Made For Each Other
by Jack Trader
Summary: Like most humans I merely watched the Sims until I managed to learn their language. Then I discovered just how deep their lives could be. So when I noticed Jack, a quiet nerdy author start to fall in love with a sad exotic dancer named Diamond, I found myself drawn into a roller coaster romance so unexpected that I became convinced they had been made for each other.
1. Prologue

It's been many years since I first turned my gaze upon Simtopia, that curious world we only recently discovered. It may sometimes seem like it was a long time ago, but really, it was only back in 2009. That isn't even a decade ago at the time of this writing. For teenagers, that may be a very long time indeed. But for a man such as myself, my children were already born and growing up and I had most of my grey hair in place. But like many other humans, I found watching the Sims go about their daily lives fascinating and sometimes, compelling. Like most observers, I had a passing familiarity with Simlish but it was only recently that I learned it sufficiently to get a deeper insight into their lives. And it was then I began to discover just how deep their lives could actually be. So after watching the development of one such family, I began to realize that their story wasn't just a somewhat superficial imitation of our lives, they could go far deeper. And for this reason I felt compelled, after relating this story to several fellow observers, to put it to print and give it to the world.

But of course not all my readers will be familiar with the world of Simtopia, so perhaps I should give a brief overview of this world and it's people.

The life of a sim is both long and short. It seems to be longer when you are watching them for hours at a time, but then you note that in the past few hours, they have grown from toddlers to children. It is possible for a sim to live for as much as 1,728 days, but that is the exception, and not the rule. There are of course, some sims who through Simtopic magic or as a result of their supernatural qualities, can live longer, but for the typical sim, their lives merely measure in what we would call, a handful of years, not even five. They have twelve months like we do, which are each eight days long, for that is the cycle of their moon. This gives them a year of 96 days and so in their minds, they have a life expectancy of around 16. They frequently have four seasons, each of them averaging around 24 days, but in the place I was watching this one family form and grow, the winters were much shorter while the rest of the seasons were longer. This was because they were in the semi-tropics.

But while their lives are seemingly so short, they are filled with events which sometimes leave us struggling to take it all in, because for the sim, life goes very fast indeed. They are fast learners. They advance through their careers swiftly, and their romances are blindingly swift and yet surprisingly stable. At least where I was watching. There was one exception, but we'll get to that soon enough.

They have a curious sense of morality. On one hand, they have many of the vices we have, but they don't have any of the serious criminal behaviors we normally associate with human evil. Yes, they will break into homes and steal furniture, and some of them even go so far as to steal candy from babies. But I've never seen them kill each other or wage war. Their sexual behavior is somewhat more libertine than ours, but they likewise have far fewer children out of wedlock since it is almost impossible for their women to get pregnant unless there is mutual consent between the partners. It was slightly different on the Islands, but even so, there were few unplanned pregnancies and never did I find an unwanted child, though there were always rumors of them out there. They could brawl with each other, and some of them were notorious for passing rumors on which could result in the loss of friendships and relationships. But time proved remarkable in healing such wounds.

They usually have relationships when they reach their post adolescent phase. While they refer to that particular time as 'teen age' there is nothing teen about it since by the time a sim has reached 13 years of age, he's an elder. But in some parts of Simtopia, those relationships end the moment one of them becomes what they refer to as a young adult. A close friendship may remain, but until the other teen reaches the same age, then they will not engage in any romantic relationships with each other. In fact, it was not unusual for the teen to take up with a new relationship while the adult pursued their own without any hard feelings between the two of them. I found this odd, and it was because this was not the case on the Islands that proved a secondary reason for why I was initially attracted to the place. In fact, not only could teens have relationships there, they could get married (usually to a young adult) and have children of their own, but this phenomena I did not witness personally until later.

The place I was attracted to initially wasn't the sort which had originally lent itself to settlement. Path finders had a deuced hard time exploring it. It was not unusual for them to be stuck for days between the proverbial rock and hard place. They would cry out so piteously when that happened. But I was attracted to it because it was both romantic and mysterious. There were two large islands on which most of the land suitable for settlement was found, with a multitude of smaller islands which were only fit for casual exploration when one would sail to them. But what was particularly mysterious was a collection of several islands which were shrouded in a deep mist which the Sims avoided at all costs. One could even go so far as to suggest that most of the sims were terrified of approaching that mist. The Islands themselves were sparsely settled. There were at the start no houses, just the local businesses which thrived upon a migrant population of mostly tourists. Sims would come to the islands, get short term jobs, work for a staycation as it were while living in a curious structure known in their lingo as a rabbit hole, and then move on. Only a handful seemed initially determined to remain. And for them, employment was a constant struggle.

But with the arrival of one particular sim, that began to change. Homes began to be built, houseboats settled permanently into their dock ports, and the place began to grow and develop.

And the reason for this sudden influx of people and development of the islands had a lot to do with that one sim. In fact, it was the same reason I was drawn to him. For you see, like me, he wanted to be an author. And our resemblances didn't just end there. His hair, like mine, was prematurely greying, already salt and pepper, though a bit blacker than mine. His chin was stronger, his cheeks a little more sunken, but he was also fond of blues and nearly always wore that color in his outfits. He was quiet, contemplative, loved reading books, but unlike me, could study and read them for hours on end. I don't sit down and read that much any more, unless it's my own stuff that I'm proofing. He also had a great sense of humor, but perhaps not as edgy as mine. But it was his writings about the Islands that started to draw other sims to them. And because of him, many other Sims who had wanted to stay on the Islands, were able to, and the community always honored him in that respect, though he did find it somewhat annoying. His wife had her own ways of dealing with the celebrity status the two of them accrued, but again, we'll get to that eventually.

Now the problem with being an observer of Sim families, is not only the difficulty of deciphering their language, but the fact that if you are watching one sim, you don't necessarily know what the other sim has been doing and furthermore, like us, they don't always talk about the events they have experienced. Yes, he may have gone to a book store and met an old friend there but as you were watching his oldest child, you never find out about it. So much of what I have written about this family I fear is dramatic embellishment based upon what they told each other while I was watching them. There however, I can assure the reader that every effort has been made to as accurately record their lives as well as their actual conversations. I took numerous videos, photos, and other recordings so that a full vista of their lives might be laid out.

But with that being said, I've never been the sort to write a documentary. The story of these sims simply was too involved to stand back and narrate the events like some stodgy old professor. And as I had not seen much of what I wanted to relate, I have decided instead to present the story in a novel form. So outside this prologue, you will not seem me relating a thing. Instead, you will, hopefully, become as immersed into the story as I was. For you see, when these two sims met, fell in love, and had their family, I could not help but suspect they had been made for each other.


	2. Chapter 2 - Arrival

**Arrival**

Jack Fearthegn paused and looked over his little houseboat he had managed to purchase. It had cost him nearly all of his simoleons. He had only a few hundred left. It would get him through a couple of weeks, but if he wanted something other than a cheap bed, cheap table, and cheap refrigerator, he was going to have to produce something and quickly. But he already had a plan. Up the road a ways was a place called Doo Peas Corporate Towers and they had a newspaper located there. Jack snorted. There was nothing tower about them. Just a cluster of three small buildings, none of which reached a third story. It was nothing remotely like say, Bridgeport. But then again, his was the only houseboat docked at any of the ports in the Islands. He kind of liked the arrangement. If he got tired of the view, he could move the boat to a new view. And furthermore, there were supposed to be four diving spots where underwater exploration could be started. He could sail the boat there as well. Of course someone had warned him of a great beast which lurked in the oceans beyond, and it was supposed to make it's lair in the misty patches, but Jack was more than skeptical. While his little houseboat was only 16 by 20 feet, he doubted there was anything in the water which could threaten it. No, he was more concerned with sharks than with any so called Kraken.

He called for a taxi and waited by the side of the road for it. When it arrived he got in and was driven for a few moments to the so called 'towers'. They were on the corner of the great central park which was presently clear though folks spoke of a summer festival which would shortly set up. As he looked about, he noted a theater and town hall where the local police, military (ha!), and government for the Islands was located. The fact that they could put all of that into a single building told him just how big and expansive things were here. But even so, he was rather pleased with it all. It was open and wide. There was lots of places you would walk or ride bikes to and explore. Double checking the posting on his smart phone, he walked into the towers to find the newspaper.

* * *

Yelena Ojeda looked over his resume behind her desk as Jack sat waiting in front. She was a mid-aged woman, her long blond hair falling to her shoulders.

"Just graduated from a public high school, no private schooling, and no college degree, and you want to be a Journalist?" she asked.

"Yes," replied Jack. "I have a talent for writing."

"Really?" she replied somewhat skeptically. "There's a laptop, report to me the following event that you have just witnessed."

"Following?"

She smiled. He has passed his first test. "Yes," she said. "You have just witnessed the rising of the ghost, Mortimer Goth, in the park during the weekend grill off. Report it."

Jack got up and walked over to the lap top on the table. He sat down and took a moment to study the lap top and it's operating system. Then he called up the word processor on it and began to type. She noted that he typed both fast and at the same time carefully. His fingers never slipped up and not once did he seem to need to use a backspace. She was impressed. There were few who had such skill with a keyboard. She wasn't one of them either.

"Here you go," he said handing the open lap top over to her. She read and noted he had reported it in three different styles.

Bare Bones: The residents of Pleasant View were somewhat surprised today by the sudden appearance of the ghost of Mortimer Goth who rose up in the midst of the weekend barbecue. Outside of possessing one of the grills he seemed mostly to want some social company and after chatting with some of his old friends, drifted off.

Full Coverage: Pleasant View received an unexpected guest at last Saturday's Grill Off when Mortimer Goth, who had passed away the week prior arrived on the scene and spent much time with the Curious's, in particular, his former close friend Marshall. The two talked for a good hour on the sports line up at the stadium and then as is the habit of ghosts, Mortimer possessed the Curious's grill for a few moments resulting in a rather spicy taste added to the hot dogs they had been roasting. Everyone agreed that it was nice to see the old fellow again and get that gentle reminder that death is not the end of life.

Human Interest Coverage: The ghost of Mortimer Goth's arrival at last weekend's Grill Off pleased many people while startling only a few, but none was more pleased than Cherish Curious who was quoted at saying. "It's like he never died. There he was looking just as spry and mischievous as that time I woohooed with him in the photo booth . . . I mean . . . don't print that . . . really! Don't you dare say I did that. I'll deny it and sue your paper."

Yelena nodded satisfied. "Yes," she proceeded. "It does seem you have a knack for both typing and telling a story. Your sense of humor in particular is appreciated." She sighed.

"So am I hired?" asked Jack.

"I wish I could," she said. "But right now, the only position we have is one you are more than qualified for, that being paper boy."

"I'll take it," exclaimed Jack.

"But you won't be writing," she began.

"Doesn't matter," argued Jack. "Look, I'm in the paper then right? I work every day with you. I get the lay of the land, learn about the people, you know I can write, so when something opens up, you just promote me to it right?"

Yelena paused. That idea had simply not occurred to her before. "Yes," she said. "We could do that. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I like the idea. It's not often we have someone who will happily start at the very bottom and trust that he'll rise up as time goes on. So yes, you're hired for the job."

"Thanks," said Jack rising and reaching out to shake her hand. "You won't regret this at all I promise."

"I strongly suspect I won't," she replied.

"Oh," continued Jack. "Just a quick question, what do folks do for fun around here? I mean, what is the club life like?"

"Well," she said. "We have two clubs, or rather one disco and one dive. The disco is called Get Funky's, and it's mostly dancing but there are a few games you can play. I don't care for the folks or atmosphere at the other place, Scuzzbucket's Dive. Most aptly named."

"Dives can have a bit of drama you know," suggested Jack. "You never know what celebrity will be slumming there or if a fight will break out between two competing politicians."

"True enough," she answered. "But Scuzzbucket's is a . . ." and here she ironically cleared her throat "Gentleman's club. You don't want to go there if you can help it and I don't care working with the guys who do."

"Well you'll have no problem with me on that count," replied Jack. "I avoid those places as well."

"Oh you do?" she asked. She was somewhat skeptical. Young men not looking at young pixeled (simlish for nude) girls was something of a rarity. "May I asked you why?"

"Well," began Jack, warming up to the subject. "Once you start going to those places, you tend to hang out in those sorts of places and the next thing you know, you have piles of images in your imagination, all of them pixeled girls which directly limits your imagery you can draw upon when writing. So best to stay away for starters. And besides, the disco will have a much more diverse crowd, which means more interesting people to experience and draw from. If I'm going to be a writer, the more people I know, the better. And I bet I'll be meeting at least some of the patrons of the dive in the disco but not all of the patrons of that disco in the dive."

Yelena smiled in appreciation. "You have definitely a focus for writing," she added. "I think you have a very promising start to your career here."

"Thanks," said Jack. He turned and left the building. Checking the time, he noted it was coming up to five. And he had not really gotten a feel for his houseboat yet. Best head back and then he could start something he had been planning on doing. That being starting a blog. He already had a title for it, "Observations of an Island Colonist." Yes, he was a colonist. He was coming here to settle. And from what he had read, he was practically the first. It would be something to do while he waiting for his break. But in the mean time, Simoleons would be paid to him and he had a fighting chance at staying here.

* * *

"Be sure to welcome to the stage, DIamond GEMstone!" came the DJ's voice over the speakers. The guys began to cheer because of all the exotic dancers at Scuzzbuckets, she was by far the most exotic. Standing out in front, her right hand up in the air while her left arm rested crooked upon her hip, with one leg bent forward and the other locked straight, in a little black vest with red trim and tight leather mini-skirt, she was clearly poised for one very sexy dance. But the exotic didn't end there. Unlike all of the other dancers, her skin was a deep grey. Her hair was a pure white, and her big eyes had red irises. The points of her ears sticking out from her hair confirmed to all who were watching that this was a dark elf, and like all dark elves, she was skilled in magic.

"Hello boys!" she shouted at the audience. They cheered in response.

"What's my money doing in your wallets?" she softly said to herself. With a solid swing in her hips she sashayed out onto the catwalk and began to work the audience.

"Diamond we love you!" shouted one fellow, with black hair and beard and dark rimmed glasses.

"Hi Trey," she said. She strutted over to his spot and slammed a pump clad calf and thigh right in front with a silver sequin garter belt in full view. He stuffed a bill in the garter. She smiled, turned to face him front, and unbuttoned one of the buttons on her vest.

"Hey, I'm here too Diamond!" shouted another fellow in a red t-shirt and long banged reddish hair and square face.

"How could I forget you, Enrico," she replied. And he too got the gartered leg and another button on the vest undone the moment the snap told her she had another simoleon tip.

And that was how she got the tips. Every time a bill went into the garter, something was unbuttoned, unzipped or dropped. Of course she timed things out. She had to end pixeled, that was the contract. But how long that took was very much dependent upon the tipping and so the regulars had figured out the trick to get her bereft of costume quicker. And the faster the guys tipped, the more tips poured in as everyone wanted to get in on the act. And tonight it was faster than usual. She tossed her garments into a pile behind the curtain's lip and when the lights hit her just right, she invoked little sparkles all over her grey well toned and perfectly shaped skin. Other dancers needed glitter and hairspray for that effect. Her magic made it a natural effect for her, and it showed. "No one sparkles and flashes more than Diamond," they said. And it was true. In more ways than one.

The music ended, she walked behind the curtain before she bent over to pick up her clothes. When on stage, she was a statuesque goddess. That was part of the effect. Mundane behaviors like refastening your thong and sticking your legs through it while hopping to maintain your balance would not do for the audience. It made you look far more normal, if not comical. Dancing, even something as vulgar as strip-tease, was an art in the end. The images you presented either made you a slut or goddess, and Diamond very much wanted to be the goddess.

The DJ called out the name of another dancer who strutted out onstage as a new set of music pounded through the speakers and Diamond walked down the stairs into the dressing room behind the stage. She counted her money. Fifty-three simoleons. That was a good start for the night. It was in fact, the only thing about the night that she regarded as good.

"Sounds like a rowdy audience Di," suggested Cocoa. She had black hair, cut short with a light curl, and a round sweet face. Her eyes however, were pale green and seemed to reflect the light which came into them.

"Looks like," agreed Diamond. Yeah, it was a decent audience. They were cheering mostly, and she didn't see as many leers as she did on average nights. As far as Scuzzbuckets went, it was a better club than most, in terms of stage, lights, DJ, and their own private dressing room which the owner, Bounder, did not just walk into, but always knocked first and waited for someone to open the door. He was kind of polite that way. Of course gossip had him sleeping with nearly all the dancers but Diamond was only aware that Cocoa had done so.

"But why?" she asked. "I mean was it because he was talking about marrying you?"

"Oh Diamond," she had replied. "He does such AWEsome woohoo. I always am tingling afterwards for hours."

"I just can't see myself falling into a bed that fast," she replied.

"Really?" giggled Cocoa. "Oh come on now Di, no one flirts more than you do. Especially when you are working out at the gym."

"Well of course," replied Diamond. "How am I going to meet a nice guy if I don't get him to notice me when I'm somewhere off stage? See any nice guys out there tonight?" She gestured to the mirrored wall which separated the dressing room from the elevated stage. "I mean, yeah, once I meet the right guy? He'll have to fight me off." She flashed a slightly predatory smile. "But he has to be the right guy, romantic, and interested in us forever."

"Oh Di," sighed Cocoa. "You're too romantic for your own good. You could have so much fun. You walk into a room, and everyone notices you. You come to a party and it's like the whole place is electrified. All the dancers here, the waitresses, and the DJ are your friends. How can you NOT have a dozen guys begging you to love them."

Diamond smiled and looked back at the mirror and let her sadness express itself in her image. She knew exactly why she didn't have all the guys begging her outside the club. It was all exterior. That was all she had. The perfect body, the charismatic personality, yeah, they were advantages. But she had an overbite that made her look slightly goofy. It wasn't noticed so much on stage. Lights, make up, and the fact that she wasn't wearing anything other than a silver necklace, bangle on her wrist, silver pumps and a sequenced garter tended to keep the eyes looking in other places than her face.

She was stupid and she knew it. Addition and subtraction? She struggled for hours to balance her checkbook. Multiplication and division were horrors, and when you got to algebra and geometry, just kill her and get it over with. She was dumb. Once she was alone with him, what would they be able to talk about? All she had was her youth and beauty. And when those were gone? All she could hope for was to have stashed away enough money to keep her fed and sheltered in a little house for the rest of her life. Maybe she'd have a cat to keep her company. No she was never going to get the right guy, the one who would want her once her breasts started to sag and her belly started to pooch out and her thighs got flabby with cellulose. Until then she would pump her body up with jogging, weights, sit ups, and all the body enhancing tricks she could come up with because once that was done? There would be no tips coming. How much did she need to survive? She didn't know. She was bad at math. So her only hope was to get as much of it as she could.

"Hey Diamond," came a new voice. It was one of the waitresses, Ariel Walsh. She was dressed in a little yellow miniskirt banded in numerous complimentary colors, and a open long sleeved short jacket with yellow swim suit bra underneath. Her long red hair fell loosely around her face. She was, by all accounts quite attractive. "I was thinking of switching jobs? And thought a letter of recommend from you would help."

"Ariel?" cried Diamond. "Of course I'll do it. Don't know what help it will be, but you've only been here the last week. How can you be switching?"

"Kind of dull here," argued Ariel. "And all the guys are jerks."

"Well that goes without saying," quipped Cocoa. "But seriously Ariel. You were a book store clerk four weeks ago, then you switched to a booth manner at the park for their festival, and now you want to switch out again? How will you ever get ahead if you just jump from one starter job to another?"

"Just about the only job you haven't had is that of a dancer here," observed Diamond.

"Hmm," mused Ariel. "How interesting is it? I mean I know the money's good, but what would keep my interest if I did start dancing here?"

"You're crazy Ariel," sighed Diamond. "You know that? Find something and stick with it. Don't keep popping about. I swear you switch jobs faster than you switch boyfriends."

"I can't help it," argued Ariel. "All the guys start out exciting and new and then I get to know them and it's DULL DULL DULL. Anyway, gotta get back out there and deliver another round of BORING drinks. Sheesh, when are they going to order something new? Don't forget that letter Diamond." She left out the side door.

"Hi all!" came a new chipper delicate voice. Another dancer flitted into the room, her feet just an inch or so above the floor and her translucent baby blue butterfly wings fluttering behind her. "Everybody getting the boy's hopes (and other parts) up tonight?"

"Hi Gabrielle," said Diamond with a smile.

"Ooo Cocoa! There's a little bug in your face!" cried Gabrielle. Suddenly she was a little blue light giggling and hovering in front of Cocoa. Cocoa leaped up and started to swat at the little flying light, growling a bit while Gabrielle's little giggles tee heed between swats.

Diamond sighed. Those two seemed to thrive on that little game they played. She watched them and smiled. They seemed happy. So why wasn't she?

* * *

Jack was at the paper, picking up yet another load of deliveries. He had it all figured out. Drop these off at the courthouse, and the next load at the theater, then over to the spa, and then turn and head for that disco, Get Funkys. He had a little money now. He could grab a drink maybe meet a nice girl, play a little roulette with that robotic operator. Nice thing about robots, when they ran gambling tables if they were programed to be honest to begin with, you could count on them staying that way. Until of course someone programmed them otherwise, but he had not heard of it happening. He walked out of the shop and checked the time. It was 4:30. It would be after quitting time before he finished the deliveries. He would be able to document that. So with that bit of ethics cleared up, he set out.

Get Funky's was a single storied building, with no windows. Behind it was a porch which possessed two things, a bubble blower which no one ever used, and a hot tub which some people did. He found it kind of odd that people would lounge in a hot tub at a disco, but he figured he would find out why it was there soon enough. As he walked in, he noticed that it was a hopping crowd. Local hot spot obviously. He walked over to the bar and ordered a drink. The bartender took a few moments to get to him since there was a crowd but once he had his drink he turned and found himself face to face with two women.

One of them had brown loosely cured hair and pale green eyes that seemed to reflect the light that shown into them, but the other had loose and long red hair which framed a very gentle round face. She was mostly in yellow, but the style suggested she had just come back from the beach and thrown on a long sleeve cut short jacket and banded miniskirt.

"Oh hey!" he began. "Sorry I didn't see you there."

"It's okay," said the brunette with the reflecting eyes. "It's a crowd tonight."

"Makes it hopping," said the red head. "Lots of new people to meet and see. Exciting."

"Yeah," replied Jack. "Just got here yesterday myself. Don't know anyone. I'm Jack Fearthegn, blogger and paper boy with dreams of being an author." He grinned.

"Oooh, sounds interesting," suggested the red head. "I'm Ariel Walsh, and this is Cocoa Consoles."

"Hey great," he replied. "So, you two come here often? I don't know anyone and really would like to pal around and find out everything that's going on."

"Well," mused Cocoa. She seemed to come to a decision. "There's two of us and one of you and you don't want to get on my bad side 'cause I know how to scratch."

"Oh she does," agreed Ariel grinning. "Trust me she can scratch."

"Well I can write nasty things about you in my blog that has a total of TEN followers," laughed Jack.

"Oh my, that would be horrible for my reputation," cried Cocoa with a mock grin throwing her hands up in the air and spreading her fingers wide.

Ariel smirked a bit at that remark. "Well I guess we had better show him around then," she decided. She looked at Jack with great interest. He looked back at her and found her face to be round, gentle, and sweet.

"Yeah," he thought. "She'd be really nice to date."

"Maybe he won't be dull," Ariel thought.

For the rest of the evening, Jack chatted with Cocoa and Ariel when he wasn't dancing with them. They informed him that no one ever used the bubbler but the owner didn't want to spend the money removing it from the back 'just in case' and the hot tub wasn't there for strictly hygienic reasons.

"Seriously," replied Jack to that when Cocoa had told it to him. "It's practically public and someone like me from the paper who were to spot some prominent celebrity there doing the underwater dance in that with some secretary?"

"That's what makes it fun," argued Cocoa animatedly. "The risk of being caught, adds excitement. Besides, you haven't seen what I can do with Paparazzi who take pictures I'm not posing for."

"Especially that one annoying guy, Enrico?" pondered Ariel looking questioningly at Cocoa. She nodded an affirmation.

"Oh come now," laughed Jack.

"Full moon in two nights," observed Cocoa.

"She's such a beast on full moons," added Ariel as an aside.

"Grrr," suggested Cocoa looking at Ariel and making a claw gesture with her hand with a rather amused grin.

Jack suddenly understood. He looked at Ariel who flashed him a rather 'come hither, tall, dark, and handsome' wink. He felt his heart do a couple of extra rather enthusiastic beats.

"This is going to be a very interesting place to live," he observed.

"Good luck with that," answered Cocoa. "It's kind of tough staying here unless you can land a job and keep it."

"Not my problem," laughed Ariel.

"I've got a job," replied Jack. "And I'm going to stick with it until it gets me where I want to be."

"Sounds unexciting," replied Ariel.

"Not if there's a goal at the end of it," replied Jack. "My goal is to be a writer. I write for the paper, I get my name out, and then when my first book is ready, voila, someone will want to publish it because I will already have a reputation."

"But what do you do every day if you're an author?" asked Ariel.

"You sit in front of a lap top and think of fun things that have happened in your life, and then you hit the keys all day!" cried Jack, over emphasizing the excitement of the thing. He hoped Ariel would find it funny.

"Oh . . . How . . . Dull," suggested Ariel.

"And you get to travel to all sorts of places, like China, Egypt, and France to do research," added Jack. Would that help?

"Hmmm," mused Ariel. That at least intrigued her.

"I mean Ariel," continued Jack. "Don't you have a goal in life?"

"Have fun," replied Ariel. "What's your goal Jack?"

"Be a published Author," replied Jack. "I thought that was obvious already." Curiously he turned to Cocoa at the table who was running her finger along the edge of her drink glass. "What about you Cocoa? Do you have any goals?"

"Woohoo in the big bed with at least five guys, Woohoo in the Llama with at least five guys, Woohoo in the hot tube with at least five guys, Woohoo in the closet with at least five guys," she did a little dance with her shoulders as she chanted it out.

"Oh come now!" laughed Jack. "You can't be serious? Why so many? What ever happened to a close relationship with a guy for the whole of your life?"

"No such thing," pronounced Cocoa. "Any man who wants to woohoo with a girl is at the bottom, a jerk."

"So why do you do it then?" queried Jack. He felt kind of sorry for her. "If the guy's a jerk, why do it at all."

"It's fun," replied Cocoa. "And that's the only thing it's good for."

Jack shook his head. That was, in his mind, one messed up girl. What ever gave her that idea? "Maybe you're hanging out with the wrong guys," he suggested.

"Maybe," she replied. "The world's a big place. But I like the Islands. I want to stay here to, and if that's the only kind of guy there is here, then it's the trade off for looking out over the ocean from outside my rabbit hole."

"Well then," pronounced Jack. "If any guy who wants to woohoo with you is jerk, then I won't do it with you and prove that there are such things as guys who are not jerks."

"Well of course," countered Cocoa "If you don't want to do it with me, then you obviously are not a jerk. Stupid yes, cause I'm really good at it. But definitely not a jerk."

"And what would happen then," continued Jack, pondering the possibilities, "If you decided that you did want to woohoo with me. And I agreed after you committed to a relationship?"

"Then you've just become a jerk," replied Cocoa defiantly. "And then I'd break it off."

"Oh you're impossible," groaned Jack shaking his head. He looked at his watch. "It's getting late," he sighed. "And I have to be at work tomorrow on time or my rep gets a black mark. So you girls here often?"

"Every free night if we can," answered Ariel.

"Good," replied Jack. "I'd like people to pal around with. So I hope to see you here again okay?"

"Sure," both girls replied.

Jack got up and left.

"What do you think?" pondered Cocoa. "Think he's different?"

"Ever see him in the club?"

"Nope, and that means either he's not a clubber or he sits in the back and has a single drink and slinks out between dancers. Or he's telling the truth when he says he just got here," mused Cocoa.

"He's a thinker," observed Ariel. "And that makes him intriguing."

"Diamond would love to meet a guy like him, think we should arrange a tete a tete, you know, bring her next time we both have a free night?"

"You kidding?" exclaimed Ariel. "Once she turns the flirt on him we'll be left in the dust."

"You've got a boyfriend," argued Cocoa.

"Yeah but he's not as . . . interesting," answered Ariel.

"Ariel? Why bother? You'll get just as bored with him as you do every other boyfriend and then you'll break up with him and he'll go around thinking all girls are bitches."

"Well that evens it out then," mused Ariel. "All the guys here are jerks, and all the girls here are bitches."

Cocoa opened her mouth to respond, and then burst into giggles.


	3. Chapter 3 - Meeting People

**Meeting People**

"Hey! You're the new guy right?"

Jack turned to face the fellow who had just walked up to him in the office hall. The guy was a young adult like him, with a black pointed beard that covered his chin and lower jaw with a thin mustache over his lips. He seemed the sort who was always supposed to be smiling.

"Yeah," replied Jack. "I am. Call me Jack."

"Hey Jack, good to meet you. Noticed you've been around since yesterday, in fact, someone said you did a little overtime. Not a bad way to get on Ojeda's good side you suck up you." He grinned and gave Jack's arm a friendly punch. "Name's Trey Montalvo."

"Hey!" argued Jack, who couldn't help but grin at the joke pretending to be an insult. "I want to spend my life around here, and I'm thinking career you know?"

"No kidding?" replied Trey with mock surprise. "I mean the fact that you have a houseboat docked didn't like Give It Away?"

"Well I suppose there's that. I'm saving up for a comfortable double bed at the moment."

"Getting ready for that special someone, eh?"

"Well sort of, you never know when you'll meet the right girl. In fact, I may have met her last night."

"Oh?" asked Trey. "Like who is she?"

"Ariel Walsh. I met her with her girlfriend Cocoa last night at Get Funky's."

"Cocoa? As in Cocoa Consoles? Jamoo! And you pick Ariel over her?"

"What's so hot about Cocoa?"

"You want to be a writer and you ask that sort of question?" replied Trey with a professional gotcha smile.

Jack slapped his forehead. "Yes of course!" He laughed and shook his head. "I got work to do I see." he concluded.

"Nothing a trip to the Library won't fix," suggested Trey.

"Yeah right, where is it?"

"Yeah, you ARE new around here. It's like across the street from the Theater? Past that vacant lot across the street from us."

"Oh, that building!" replied Jack. "I noticed the Town Hall and Theater, and the park of course, but I didn't pay much attention to anything to the right of the Hall. Silly me. Good to know. I love books."

"Me too," agreed Trey. "You really need to know how to read if you want to stay in this biz. So, you shooting for star anchorman?"

"Nah," replied Jack.

"Don't tell me you find Paperboy all the career fulfillment you need."

"No way," answered Jack. "But I want to write books. This is just a stepping stone on the way there. Gotta pay bills."

"Books?" cried Trey. "Yeah! Once you start writing, I promise you I will be your first and biggest fan."

"You really get into books then?"

"Guy! It's like visiting an entirely new world. And it's all between your fingers on the top of card-stock covers. Tell you what, after work, let's hit the library, I'll show you all the good titles."

"Hey that would be great! I can't even afford my own bookshelf yet."

"Yeah," laughed Trey. "I've been where you are guy. But give it a couple of days, a week at most, you'll pull up and out."

And so that evening, Trey and Jack went to the library. They sat in easy chairs with a table between them, read books, and on occasion, passed on interesting scenes between each other. For the more exciting lifestyles, it would have been a very boring night. But for Jack and Trey? It was just companionship, mutual interests, which is the beginning of new friendships.

In fact, the next evening Trey and Jack were there again. Jack was pleased with the arrangement. It was nice having a friend, and outside some curious howls faintly heard through the library windows, for it was a full moon, the evening passed without undue incident.

* * *

Thursday saw Jack still a Paperboy but after work he walked over to the Summer Festival grounds. The attendance was sparse and so he amused himself working on learning how to roller skate. When he stepped off the rink however, he noticed another fellow, with a camera around his neck.

"Nice camera," observed Jack. "I'd like to learn how to take pictures some day."

"Oh thanks," replied the fellow. He was in a red t-shirt and had long reddish hair and square jaw. "It's kind of fun 'cause you have an excuse to go just about anywhere and take all sorts of pictures." He sighed. "Not that it necessarily pays. Not at first anyway."

"Oh you professional?"

"Yeah man, Enrico Casarosa, Paparazzi . . . for the time being anyway."

"Ah," replied Jack. "Must be fun, being able to take pictures of all the local celebrities."

"Depends on the celebrity, dude. I mean . . . whoa, here comes Cocoa."

"Hey Jack!" she said as she came up. Ariel was just behind her. She was looking at Jack and paused to give him a rather 'hey baby' wink.

"Cocoa?" asked Jack, who found himself grinning at Ariel's wink in spite of his curiosity. "Enrico seems to think you're a celebrity. That true?"

"Hey hot chocolate, give me something steaming for my food bill, kay?" queried Enrico lifting his camera and aiming it at Cocoa. "A little off the shoulder maybe?"

"Nice new t-shirt you have there Enrico," she suggested taking a slightly provocative pose as the camera started to flash. "It would be simply horrible for it to get all bitten and shredded and bloodstained now wouldn't it?"

"Outta here dude and dudettes!" cried Enrico backing off. "Like maybe later, man. Cool meeting you Jack. Trey told me about you, so we'll chill later."

"Really Cocoa," continued Jack. "Are you one of the local celebrities?"

"Nah," replied Cocoa. "Enrico just happens to like my looks that's all. And he's got a good eye with a camera. But we really don't have much in the way of celebrities here. Population is too transient. But I can see you're letting the paper rub off on you. Asking reporter questions to one of the girls who's taken you under their arms and protected you from all the scary stuff."

Jack hung in head in mock shame. "Forgive me," he sighed "I am a worm, a lowly worm, who pokes his nose into places it ought not to go. Especially because it's often rather stinky there."

"Eu!" cried Ariel while Cocoa roared in laughter. "I know just what you are talking about too!" she howled.

"EUUUUUUUUU!" cried Ariel even louder. She obviously knew what Cocoa was referring to.

Jack paused to look at his watch. He had to admit Cocoa was a fun girl to hang out with. But she didn't, at least in his mind, have as 'come hither' a look as Ariel. Ariel seemed almost irresistible. If he were lucky, he might be able to get her to himself some time. He was a little cautious there. If Ariel was in a relationship, he wouldn't want to call her up and have her boyfriend find out. Getting rejected for a date had never happened to him, and he was terrified of it happening now, especially since he was so new to the area. But there were other ways to skin a cat.

"It's almost seven," he observed. "Sun has set, want to cross the straights and check out Cruzitas Diner? A fun threesome dinner?"

"Almost seven!" cried Cocoa looking at her watch. "Frabbit, I've gotta set at eight! Bounder 'll have my head if I'm late. Dag dag!" And she was off like a shot towards the straights herself.

"Well," suggested Ariel. "Looks like it's just . . . you and me."

"And then we'll go to Get Funky's afterwards?"

"That would be . . . interesting," suggested Ariel with a smile that suggested it would be more than interesting.

It was a fun diner. The smaller island had the consignment shop across the street from Cruzitas and it was also the only place where you could get groceries. Ariel and Jack talked about a lot of stuff between the salad and burgers. It was that evening that Jack first found out that Cocoa was a dancer at Scuzzbuckets.

"She seems like a nice girl," he suggested. "Why is she a dancer then?" It was more rhetorical and out of curiosity than surprise. Given her approach to love making, which he regarded as something so special that you only shared that experience with the love of your life, her selection of career options did not, in his mind, seem that unusual. A cavalier approach to love always carried over to all it's aspects.

"Well of course," replied Ariel, slightly defensive for Cocoa's sake. "Hey Jack, you're kind of lucky you know?"

"How so?"

"You have a bit of talent so you might be going places. But not everyone has that sort of thing. I mean I know one girl who's so down on herself she literally thinks she has no other option than to dance. Cocoa could probably do better, but she likes the money too much."

"So why is she so down on herself?" asked Jack. He decided not to ask for the name, since Ariel obviously was sharing an experience in confidence while keeping a confidence.

"She can't do math," sighed Ariel.

"Math doesn't come to everyone. Is that all?"

Ariel nodded.

"So she thinks she's stupid because she finds math hard?"

"You got it," chuckled Ariel. "We're talking about a girl who's got crazy talent. She can play the piano like nobody's business. She's always scuba diving and finding things. I mean, she's the sort of girl you'ld expect to find the ancient artifact at the bottom of the pyramid after opening a dozen secret doors and leaping over all the fire traps gracefully dressed in some really hot shorts too. And she does magic."

"She's a witch then?"

"Yeah, and of course she's good at that too."

"And yet, she's a stripper."

"One of the best in the biz," sighed Ariel. "Make's it look so easy that even I think I can do it. Of course I can't. Not the body type and pixeled in front of all those guys? Ugh!" She shivered slightly. "Now for some special guy? It's different."

Jack sighed, totally missing the hint. "The world has got some crazy people doesn't it?"

"Yeah," sighed Ariel. "Which is what makes you so special. You have your head on straight. Makes a girl kind of like spending time with you." She flashed him a 'come and get me' sort of smile.

Jack signaled the waitress for the check. "Ready for some dancing?" he asked.

"All night," sighed Ariel.

* * *

The music was playing some jazzy tune behind the mirror and there was almost nothing in the way of suggestion that there was an audience in front of the stage beyond. Diamond was busy brushing red eyeshadow to compliment her black eyeliner. Cocoa came down the stairs, her clothes hanging off her shoulder by her left hand.

"Not much of an audience tonight," she sighed. "Only fifteen simols in tips."

Diamond sighed. "I hate nights like this."

"Hey," replied Cocoa. "You know, on quiet nights, you sometimes notice there's a really polite guy who's hanging at a table by himself. You know the type, here 'cause he's lonely and will never lay a hand on you 'cause he thinks you're untouchable. The sort you can chat with all night?"

"Sometimes," replied Diamond. "Do we have one of those out there tonight?"

"Nope," answered Cocoa.

"Then why did you mention it?"

"'cause I really haven't looked. I was too busy making sure I made it in on time. Got distracted at the park with Ariel."

"She was looking at a really cute guy then?"

Cocoa laughed. "You are perceptive you know that?" she queried.

"Nah," replied Diamond. "Just learning the hard way from experience."

"Well yeah, there's this kind of cool, not cute, but cool paperboy who's bought a little houseboat which he's docked down on the beach by the Spa and Bistro. He's was getting to know Enrico when Ariel and I ran into him. We met him first last Sunday at Get Funky's so we already kind of know him. He invited us to join him for a burger but that's when I realized it was late. So I left him in Ariel's more than capable paws."

"Gave her a reason to put another notch in her belt?" sighed Diamond.

"I don't think she's that sort of girl," observed Cocoa. "I think she just doesn't really know what she wants and so she keeps flitting about."

"But she was flitting," replied Diamond with a bit of grin.

"Quite the flit . . . and flirt," answered Cocoa. "I swear when that girl blows a kiss you can almost see a red beating heart float across to her target. She's flypaper. The moment a guy lands on her, he can't get off and she likes it that way."

"But you think the guy's cool?"

"Yeah, name's Jack. Wants to be an author some day, write stories, live here in the Islands, maybe travel around to places. Maybe China, Egypt, France?"

"Sounds romantic," sighed Diamond. She gave Cocoa a hopeful gaze.

Cocoa grinned, she had Diamond's interest now. "But get this," she continued. "He thinks a great night is reading a book with his buddy Trey!" She giggled.

But Diamond did not giggle. She suddenly looked rather sad. Cocoa found that odd.

"Hey Diamond," she said. "So what if he has a dull streak. He's still sort of cool and from what you keep talking about, he's just the sort of guy you have been looking for."

"He's smart," she observed. She looked back at the mirror and worked again on her makeup. She had to be the knockout, especially tonight. Tips would be few. She had to work as many of them into her garter as possible.

Cocoa was totally baffled. Why would a guy who was smart be a turn off for her? That was what made him kind of cool. Didn't she know that?

* * *

The music was cool and sweet in Get Funky's and Ariel was slow dancing with Jack. He was looking into those big green eyes of hers, peaking out from between the long silky strands of red orange hair that fell to Ariel's shoulders. And she was looking right back at him. And what was making it so special? He hadn't stepped on her foot once.

"You really are looking . . . you know?" began Jack. He was at a total loss for words, so wrapped up in that gentle quiet face that she had on.

She just kept looking into his eyes.

"How can a girl like you not be taken?" he began.

"I have a friend . . . kind of special," she admitted. "But . . . nothing serious . . . nothing . . . like you."

That wasn't of course nearly true. She was living with the guy, sleeping with him, and had done woo hoo with him more than a few times. But he was boring her. This guy would be a fun distraction. She had the security of the first guy and so long as nothing obviously romantic happened in public, Jack might prove to be the excitement she felt she was missing out on.

Jack was just looking at her, wondering what she had really meant by that last statement. So she set the bait. Tilting her head back just slightly, she opened her lips ever so subtly.

He took it and planted a kiss right on her while holding her face with both his hands. Then he stepped back slightly embarrassed. She grinned, grabbed his hands, pulled him in, and gave him a kiss back, and then hugged him for good measure.

For the rest of the evening, it was flirts, kisses, cuddles, and then Jack had to head back for his boat. Work was in the morning and he would be exhausted as it was. For Ariel, it was her favorite time of life. She always liked that 'falling in love' phase of a relationship. It never ceased to be exciting.

* * *

The weekend had arrived. Two glorious summer days of no work duties. Jack didn't quite know what to do with himself immediately, outside of sleeping in since he had not said goodbye to Ariel until three that morning. The prior Sunday had been setting up the houseboat and that, coupled with the search for the job at the Paper, had taken up the entire day. Now, he got up, made his rather cheap bed, the only piece of furniture in the lower hull bedroom of the houseboat, walked into the bathroom, showered, shaved, dealt with bladder issues, and then up the spiral stairs and out to the mailbox at the stern of the boat right by the boarding ramp.

No bills today, that was good. But there was a letter. From Ariel! There was a little red heart on the back, one of those cutie girl things which made Jack's heart just beat a little faster. He gently broke the glue on the back and found a sheet of paper tri-folded over something a little more stocky underneath. On the surface of the paper was the note 'A little something for you to remember me by' and so he unfolded the note and discovered that Ariel had sent him a selfie of herself.

Wearing pixels.

And that was all.

His heart was pounding. He'd never seen something like this before in his life, and not from a girl he was romantically interested in either. Oh yeah he had heard of it happening, but to him? He pulled out his phone and dialed her number. What should he say? "Hey you are really like awesome photogenic?" or maybe a flirty woohooty "Hey hot stuff I got your picture and the message with it. Whadaya say we do something about it?" but the dial tone was broken by "Hi Jack!" from Ariel and he said, "Hey, how about lunch at the bistro?"

"Sounds like fun!" she said. "Meet you there."

He paused and just looked at the picture again. 100% girl and nothing but girl beauty. She looked so good. He gazed for a moment longer. She was offering it all to him. Yeah. He was in love. And she was the one. He dashed into the houseboat, put the picture, face down just in case, on the only open spot he had, an end table by the bamboo love seat, right next to the boom box, and then dashed to the road to get the taxi to the bistro.

Lunch was a fun affair. The Bistro was the fancy place on the Islands, even though it was a chain. Little Corsican Bistro was all over Simtopia. The menu was mostly the same where ever you went. But then again, so was the typical Sim diet. The sort of place where you could look at the elegant waiter and say "Peanut Butter and Jelly please," and he would say, "Excellent choice sir, the plum jelly is very good this time of year."

But instead it was goopy carbonara while Ariel had a salad.

"Typical girl food," mused Jack, making a mental note.

But lunch was over too fast and Ariel had an appointment. It was a new job interview. And so Jack wandered over to the library. As soon as he had grabbed a new book, he noted that Trey was on the couch by the windows. Jack walked over and sat next to him.

"Nice seeing you Jack," whispered Trey.

Jack smiled, closed his eyes and kind of leaned back.

"Good mood I see," added Trey.

"Ariel and I are really hitting it off," he replied back. "She sent me one hot selfie of herself and we did lunch at the bistro. I'd have taken her to the beach afterwards, but she's got a job interview so I'm kind of stuck by myself for the afternoon.

"Well with Ariel, you better get used to being left by yourself on a regular basis," whispered Trey somewhat cautiously.

"What do you mean?"

"She's a butterfly Jack. She flits from one flower to another. She won't be tied down."

"Well maybe she hasn't found the right guy yet."

"So you're thinking you're the one?" queried Trey skeptically.

"Why not? I mean she's been giving me some of the most romantic looks I've ever seen."

Ariel gives every guy those sorts of looks," shrugged Trey.

"So you're saying she's a bit of a flirt?"

"Not just a flirt," leaned Trey over, looking cautiously to either side. "But a full throttle sort of flirt."

"Why are you saying this Trey?" began Jack, slightly edgy. "Hey, you're not interested in her yourself are you?"

"Jack," began Trey. "You're a cool dude you know? You putz around on that really cute little white houseboat and all and it gives folks the idea that maybe, just maybe, things will start to look up around here. People won't have to live in just rabbit holes, there will be houses and parks and maybe more to do than just dance or look at dancers." Trey paused while Jack's frown slowly slide into a look of concern. "So I'm telling you this for your own good. If you want time with Ariel, by all means. She's a fun date and great in bed by all accounts. But she won't be a girlfriend, let alone fiancé. She just won't let herself be tied down. And so don't get your hopes up that she'll be the one to bring home the babies with okay?"

Trey leaned back and resumed reading. Jack sat on the couch, holding his book somewhat listlessly, frowning. Why had Trey told him this? Was he trying to get Ariel for himself, or was he the guy she had said was someone sort of special but . . . not like him. Or was he really warning Jack that he had fallen for a girl who had, as they said, commitment issues? Jack continued to mull it over in his head.

"You sure you're not interested in her?" Jack pressed him again.

Trey shook his head. "You know?" he continued. "Enrico may be of the opinion that women are like nectar and you need to just take sips from this or that vintage all your life, but nah . . . I'm kind of a one woman sort of guy myself. I mean don't get me wrong, I love looking at 'em. Every chance I get. But when it comes to commitment? I'm kind of like you and for that reason, just don't get to attached to Ariel. She'll break your heart in the end."

"So what is it about Enrico?" continued Jack.

Trey shrugged, "He's a pretty laid back kind of guy. Likes to take pictures, and a bit of a mooch once you get to know him. Dunno how many drinks I've ended up buying for him because he was short. But likewise he has a way with the ladies as well. Get's the dancers at Scuzzbuckets to give him a lot of money making shots from what I hear."

"So kind of why Cocoa gave him a pose even though she didn't want him there the other night," mused Jack.

"You got it."

"She really threatened Enrico with a mauling too. Pretty much gave it away that she's a werewolf."

Trey nodded. "You do pick up the signals fast don't you? So given that you met both Cocoa and Ariel, why did you pick Ariel? I mean seriously Cocoa knows how to dance and pose and come across super sexy. And Ariel just doesn't have her style."

"Well," mused Jack. "I really think it had to do with the fact that Ariel was being flirty from the get go. But likewise Cocoa's attitude towards love and woohoo really turned me off rather quickly. You say Ariel's got commitment issues, Cocoa told me flat out that she wanted more than one lover and no lover for long.

Trey nodded. "So stuck between a girl who, like Enrico, wants a little sip from every flower blooming, and Ariel who was just being a come on, you made the best choice. Just so happens . . ."

"Ariel might not commit either," sighed Jack. "Just the same, what if I persuade her to settle down and be content?"

"She can be a sweetie," agreed Trey. "Hey guy, if you can actually get her to commit, by all means, go for it. Just . . . be careful kay?"

Trey paused for a moment. An idea seemed to be occurring to him.

"Consider a hypothetical question," he mused. "Let's say there is this really hot chick, who just happens to be a stripper, but really wants a guy to settle down with and be with forever you know? Have babies with, the whole kielbasa."

Jack snorted. "I seriously doubt there is such a girl out there, meaning stripper who still believes in true long lasting forever kind of love." he said. "I mean you really have to be super extroverted to be in the theater to begin with, but be that much of a show off? And while granted I don't have any parents to have to take her home to and explain her career to . . . 'but really she's a sweetie mom and not at all like all those other girls you hear about . . ."

"I hear you," laughed Trey. "Yeah, some of them start out sweet but it's a hard job and they see the worst in guys and end up cynical and throw up so many walls to protect themselves. There was this one chick I knew who started her own club once. And the only time she smiled was when she was on stage. But the moment she was off it and you said, "Hey!" she bit your head off.

"And how did you meet her?" asked Jack.

"Doing an article on the local entertainment laws for Bridgeport. It was seriously tough to get her to answer anything truthfully because she was totally convinced every guy who talked to her wanted just to find a way to get her into bed with them, you know, the all men are jerks thinking."

"Cocoa pretty much said that," agreed Jack. "So I told her flat out I'd never sleep with her."

"Probably the only reason why she kind of likes you then," agreed Trey.

"So how is it you know her and this other mmmm stripper," began Jack. He tilted his head. Was Trey a clubber?

"There are ten girls working at Scuzzbuckets, twelve if you count the two waitresses. It's one of the few steady jobs on the islands right now which are exclusively for young adult women. The rest of the jobs, cashiers at the grocery and book store, waiters and waitresses, those sorts of service jobs, everyone else grabs. Not that there are young adult women who want those jobs too, but if you happen to be a bartender, you have Funky and Scuzz to work in. Bookstore, two restaurants, grocery store, consignment shop, alchemy shop, all of them tourist small town . . . you get the picture?"

Jack nodded.

"So they pretty much are the primary young adult selection of single girls we have. The rest all are tourists who come to the beaches and you don't see them much and by the time you get to know their names? They've gone back to Pleasant View or Twin Brooks. So the odds are you're going to meet at least one, if not two of them just by hanging out at Get Funky's or spending time in the gym."

"So it wasn't much of a coincidence that I met Cocoa," mused Jack.

"Nope," finished Trey. "And she was with Ariel because up until yesterday, Ariel worked as a waitress there and Ariel gets along with just about everyone because she's switched jobs so often she's knows everyone."

Jack leaned back. "Well," he mused. "My options then are still rather limited. So I guess I'm going to have to find a way to persuade Ariel to commit."

"Good luck."

"There's time yet," replied Jack. "And the first steps are already taken. I mean she is very much attracted to me. The trick is, getting her attracted enough to want to settle down.

Trey chuckled. "You know, if you get her to settle down, that will make a really great chick book you know? Popcorn for the house wife sort of book? How your love made her realize that you were the best she would ever get and she is loyal forever."

"Happy ending then," chuckled Jack. "I like it. And . . . well . . . she is really good looking."

* * *

But the weekend passed all to quickly. And Jack was back at the paper that Monday. But near the end of the day, Ojeda called him into her office. Feeling somewhat lucky, Jack confidently walked in.

"Well," she began, looking at a file. The first day you worked here, you did a little subtle overtime. You've been on time every day, worked through your shift with little if any complaint even when you came in utterly exhausted Friday morning. And what's more, we've had a job open up. So I'm promoting you to Automated Spell Check Checker. Go down to accounting and pick up your bonus before you leave.

"Thanks!" exclaimed Jack. In an even better mood he grabbed the bonus and before the evening was out he had purchased a very nice desk and very cheap computer. Computers could always be upgraded, but good desks lasted forever.

And so for the next couple of days, it was working on perfecting his writing skill a bit, and then on Wednesday, he began his first novel. He decided to make it a Sci-Fi novel, and titled it, Saucers Over Beldin.

His life was beginning to look up. Trey had told him right. But then again, Trey was obviously a good friend. Now if he could only get Ariel to commit.


	4. Chapter 4 - Ariel Get's Closer

**Ariel Gets Closer**

"The second week of Summer is flying by quickly," thought Jack. It was already Wednesday and he was looking at his nice new very long book shelve. It was against the front bow wall of his houseboat, adjacent to his desk which was adjacent to the end table which was catty corner to the bamboo love seat. His front room / kitchen / dining room was looking a little more settled in. No art yet, but books were art. His novel already was garnering attention, at least the publishers were impressed enough to send him some forward stipends to keep him going writing it. They liked what they were reading so far. He had written five chapters and had at least another nine in him if not thirteen. Saucers Over Beldin. Why had he picked that name for a particular town? Kind of liked how it sounded but . . . he decided. From now on, his books would be set in the Islands. It would be important for him to keep working on this book however. If he was promoted again soon, like next week? then they might start wanting articles from him. Ojeda had already hinted that one or two articles might be 'appreciated'. Such hints from the boss were best acted upon. The quicker he got promoted, the quicker he would be able to afford a double bed. What if Ariel was persuaded to move in with him?

There was a doorbell ring. Jack walked over to the door and opened it. Outside, there was a Llama standing on the stern platform of the boat. No, it was a woman, young woman, somewhat athletic, in the Simtopia University Mascot Uniform.

"Hi!" She said. "I'm Trish McCullough and I'm here to see if you might be interested in attending the University come this fall."

"I pretty much plan on it," explained Jack. "When two conditions are met."

"Oh?" replied Trish. "And those are?"

"First, I need some money," answered Jack. "I'm only a Spell Check Checker at the paper and second of all, I really need to get settled here. So the plan is first thing in the fall."

Trish nodded. "Then I would suggest you wait until you are ready to go before taking the aptitude test. Then you'll have the best chance of a scholarship."

"Great advice," replied Jack. "Thanks. Any thing else?"

"Nope," she replied. "I'm just moving through recruiting and making sure all the young adults without a college education get the college bucket. She motioned to the bucket on his dock which had a college banner, free t-shirt, and a sheaf of papers which he suspected were aptitude test sheets. "I have a list here of people to visit."

"So you have a bucket list?" suggested Jack, his eyes twinkling.

"FUNny," groaned Trish. "You have any idea what major you will pick?"

"Communications," answered Jack. "Best way to learn how to write."

Trish nodded. "Good choice," she said. "And you'll not just learn to write. In fact, nearly every communications major is expected to master the art of broadcasting. You don't just learn how to express yourself in the written medium, but the spoken as well. And as anyone who's graduated can tell you, the better you speak, the better you write, and vice versa."

Jack nodded. "There is wisdom in that. I have one last question."

"What is it?" asked Trish.

"Isn't it really hot in that costume?"

"Ugh," she answered. "Steaming. Can't wait for fall to begin back at the University."

"Then I'm glad I'm not you," he replied. "Hope you make it through the day then."

With a smile and a grateful nod, she strutted off. Rather comical walk he thought. Never planned on doing that himself, but then again, different strokes for different folks.

He looked at his watch. He could work more on the book, but he seriously needed the break. Work was not fun if you wanted to advance quickly and he was seriously fun deprived. He left the house boat, and took the taxi to Get Funky's.

It was a slow night there. There was no word or sign of Cocoa, or Ariel, and Trey of course was in the library. He spotted Enrico and walked up to him.

"Don't look like the party's gonna be here Jack," he sighed. "Might have to head over to Scuzzbucket's to get good photos. You wanna come?"

"Nah," replied Jack diplomatically. "Not my cup of tea really."

"You into guys?"

Jack groaned and shook his head while grinning. "Nope, just not interested."

Enrico was kind of surprised at that, but then he shrugged. "Each his own I guess. Um, can you do me a favor before I go?"

"Sure," replied Jack. "What sort of favor?"

"Um, I need someone to check the men's restroom just in case."

"Just in case of what?"

"Um, something might explode if I'm in there. Need to make sure it doesn't."

"Enrico? Do you know something that . . . maybe the newspaper needs to know too? Not to mention the local authorities."

"No no no man! It's not like that it's . . . um . . . alien stuff . . . maybe . . . don't know. Just the vibes are all wrong and I need someone who's . . . in the groove . . . to check it out and make sure it's . . . um . . . safe."

"Okay Enrico, I'll check it out for you."

"Okay thanks man, I really owe you."

Jack walked over to the men's restroom and almost walked in and then some curious primal fear seemed to seize him. Then he burst into laughter. "You are being an idiot, Jack. Like something weird is in the restroom." He opened the door. A green skinned pointed ear bald headed fellow with almost entirely black eyes walked out and nodded politely at Jack. Jack walked in, checked the sinks, check the urinals, and then checked the toilets. Everything was in perfect order. He signaled Enrico, giving the okay sign and Enrico, with relief apparent on his face came over. But before he walked in, he turned to Jack.

"Thanks again guy; you sure you won't check out Scuzzbuckets? If the party ain't here, it's always there. Some of the girls are . . . goddesses man . . . why there's this one chick . . . she's."

"Enrico! Go have fun! I told you, it's just not my thing."

"Okay man, just as soon as I do the business here." He let the door close behind him. Jack turned and stopped amazed.

A girl had just walked into the disco. She was scanning the place, her emotions a cross between disappointment that there was no one there, and yet just a little relief, almost as if she were afraid of meeting someone she knew. But that wasn't all that caught Jack's attention. She was wearing a tight leather miniskirt which hung off the hips and dropped to only halfway down her thighs. It wasn't as short as some of the club skirts he had seen worn by some of the other girls here, the one's he was almost certain worked at the Scuzz as he called it, but it was tighter and flattered her figure tremendously. Above that was a black vest with a deep red collar. The collar matched the color of her long fingernails. Her shoes were likewise black weave wicker with a red border to them. High enough, but not too high, to make her calves look strong and firm and just the right length. But in spite of the black, the color was not goth, it was to accentuate her deep rich grey skin. That color and trim tone leaped out at his eyes from her legs and arms, her belly and her face.

And she noticed he was looking at her. She did a little shy look away, her white hair falling across her face in a gentle fashion. He noted she had a very pronounced overbite, as if her jaw had never grown long enough,. Yet for some reason or another, it made her look incredibly cute. He kept staring. She looked back at him and there was a very shy, hesitant, little fawn lost quality to her smile. Her eyes had very bright red irises.

"She's got to be the most beautiful dark elf I've ever seen," thought Jack to himself. "And she's too shy. She can't possibly be a stripper. Might be trying to dress like one, in order to compete, especially with that overbite." He took a step forward. He noticed she was watching him again, just out of the corner in her eyes. He could almost swear those eyes were saying "come on, come on, I'm too scared to come to you but if you will come to me, we can talk and maybe . . . ?"

And then his cell phone rang.

Jack sighed and picked it up.

"Jack!" It was Trey. "Jack! One Wolf Two Wolf has come in! Two copies! We can read it to each other!"

"Be right there!" exclaimed Jack. He snapped the phone shut, dashed for the door almost brushing past her as he did. Just as he crossed the threshold and was about to leap down the stairs in anticipation of the newest literary delights being offered, he turned and looked back. After all, she had been very beautiful. As the door closed shut he could see her watching him depart with a quiet look of resignation upon her face. For some reason or other, he kind of felt he had just done the stupidest thing in his life.

But he got over it a few moments later. And by the end of the reading session with Trey, he had forgotten all about it.

* * *

"So how was your night off?" queried Gabrielle, watching Diamond walk into the dressing room at the start of the night shift while she was flittering about holding up a blue gossamer thong and comparing it to a blue gossamer g-string. "What do you think Di? Which one will the boys go for? The thong which says 'Really sexy hips here' or the G-string which says 'I'm barely holding on sweetie and these little elastics just might go 'pop!' any second now!' Which one hmmm?"

Diamond slumped into her make up chair, then with a sigh got back up as she undid her blouse and walked over to her locker to stuff it in.

"Dull," she sighed. "I thought for just a moment . . . but no."

"Dull? A blue thong and g-string are dull? I swear I've never seen a boy down in the chairs complaining about them. Oh wait, you're not talking about costume fashion are you, honey. Your night? That bad? Must have been Di, you sound as if your heart was almost broken."

"You know that cool guy who works at the paper that Cocoa likes to talk about? The one she's convinced I really need to meet?"

"Jack Fearthegn?"

"You know him?"

"Well Ariel has been talking about him a lot also, almost as if she's got her sights set on him you know. I think I saw him once last week when he was still paper boy, but I hear he's been promoted."

Diamond looked at Gabrielle and just leaned against her locker. The metal door snapped shut in protest.

"Figures," she sighed. "My luck of course. He was giving me the 'jamoo you are so beautiful' look and . . . and it was the first time a guy had looked at me that way when I wasn't on the stage. And he's not a clubber. So I know he was looking at me that way because I . . . because he really thought I was beautiful and not just standing there in my pumps swaying my pixel hips and thighs at him."

Gabrielle looked sadly at Diamond. Then she fluttered over and gave Diamond a big fairy hug. "You'll find love some day honey. I just know it. If not this Jack, then someone. You're too special to be alone forever."

"You're sweet Gabi," sighed Diamond. "But I'm no fool. I'm stupid. I'm no fun outside of parties and clubs, and someday the bad thing will come and take me and . . . that will be the end of me. No."

"Nonsense honey. Now, take off your bra."

"What?"

Gabrielle gave Diamond a look. And she shrugged and slipped her arms through her straps and turned the bra around and unclasped it. She opened the locker and put it in."

Suddenly little flecks of red and purple fairy dust fell upon Diamond's shoulders and breasts. It flickered and glimmered in the dim light. Her grey skin, especially on the tops of her breasts and shoulders, seemed to faintly glow. It made her skin look incredibly healthy.

"Make you look extra special pretty tonight on stage, okay?" suggested Gabrielle smiling.

"Thanks Gabi," said Diamond with her first smile since her shy one to Jack the evening before. "You're a sweetie."

* * *

Friday! Friday! The last work day before The Weekend! Yeah! Jack was pumped at work. He was pumped chatting with Trey. He was pumped with his new article idea for Ojeda. And she got pumped too when she heard it. He was ready and willing and when the pay was given he was out the door and shortly there after he was looking at a brand new double bed in his lower hull bedroom. Nice and comfortable. No more creaky mattress which made his back ache first thing in the morning. And what if Ariel were to move in shortly? But next was the fact that he had finished his Sci-Fi book and the publisher was pumped. It was selling. He was going to be getting an extra hundred simols each week in royalties and at least through the autumn! Hot frabbits life was looking good.

He picked up the phone and dialed Ariel's number. What was he going to say? "Hey Baby! I gotta new bed I need breaking in, wanna help me do it?" He paused. Then he laughed. Right Jack. You'll never say that to a girl and any decent girl would conclude, just like Cocoa, that you were the biggest jerk this side of Simtopia.

The dial tone stopped with a "Hi Jackie! Sup?"

"Hey Ariel, how about coming over and hanging out at my houseboat all day? We'll putz it out to one of the dive spots and maybe do some snorkeling? So bring your swimsuit?"

"Will there be a place on the boat I can change into it?" she asked.

"Sensible girl," he thought. "She's modest in public. And not in private . . . yeah."

"Yes," he said. "The entire lower hull is filled out and finished. I've got my bed and bath down there. So you can change in complete privacy just in case there are any um, girl things you need resolving."

"Great!" she replied. "I'll be over first thing in the morning, maybe nine?"

Ariel hung up. Something new! Something exciting! A day out on a houseboat! She paused for a moment. Yeah, Jack's intellectual bent was sort of unexciting, though she never ran out of things to talk to him about. But the fact that he would read for hours on end was probably going to prove a turn off down the road. But maybe, meh! Who cares. Tomorrow was going to be fun, and with a little effort, seriously romantic. She paused. She pondered. How to make sure tomorrow was going to end romantic. Then she grinned.

She dialed up Gabrielle's number. She would be at the club already. So if this worked out, she'd be able to set things up no problem before tomorrow morning . . . the perfect crime.

"Hi Honey! Gabbi here! How's my sweetie pie Ariel?" came her practically singing voice over the muffled sounds of thumping drums and bass and some cheering in the back ground. "Can you hear me Ari? Diamond's really putting on the show right now, trying out a new look . . ."

"Yeah," chuckled Ariel. "I can hear you over . . . Diamond's noise makers. She always knows just how to dress before she hits that stage. Some girls just know how to look good . . . and speaking of looking good . . ."

"Don't tell me, you saw something I wore, or didn't *giggle* that you want to borrow?"

"Yeah that really pink um is it still a bikini?"

"Yes dear, it's a g-string bikini, nothing at all in the back save a few very thin chords. Gives every boy watching you going, reasons to run around and watch you coming. In more ways than one." There was another little tee hee giggle. "You little fox you. So who's your new victim?"

"Jack invited me for a Saturday on his houseboat by one of the diving buoys. Out on the ocean, just the two of us. Hardly anyone will be out there, I can get a bit of tan without tan lines . . . and not worry about anyone else seeing me. And if someone comes, I just go inside for a bit."

"Save Jack, who will no doubt be seeing a lot of you."

"Well that is the idea."

"Funny how a guy who won't come clubbing will still let his eyes linger over you when you remove . . . um obstacles."

"Not really," observed Ariel, who couldn't help but be amused by Gabrielle's bubbly burlesque. "It's different when it's just the two of you. It's more comfortable and . . . well . . . natural. Anyway, I feel more at ease when it's just me and the guy I'm interested in. And if he's really appreciative, I kind of like it."

"Well of course darling sweetie pie. It's always fun when they are genuinely appreciative. Okay, well let's see. I won't be tossing it tonight if you want to come over and pick it up."

"Thanks. I'll be right over."

Diamond came off the stage and scooped up her laundry basket that she had tossed her costume into. Very useful things when you're a dancer, laundry baskets. They hold everything you've tossed and keep it in a manageable pile but not on the stage which has had a lot of heels pounding out dance beats, not to mention dirt into, for the past ten years. One laundry basket can add hundreds of tosses to a garment's life span. And good costumes, especially the one's made for this business, did not come cheap. She had put three thousand into this white sequined shimmering evening gown slit up the left leg, so guys would know where the garter was . . . right . . . and then thirty buttons up the side, strapless, so it would fall right off when the thirtieth tip went into that garter. Vest with four buttons, five simols in tips. Skirt with four snaps? Five Simols. Red thin shimmering bikini top? Two simols. Red thin shimmering thong? Two simols. That was . . . MATH! well? Not as much as thirty dainty buttons up the side. She was certain. And it had worked. Which was the important thing. And the slow slinky music too. Jazz, bass, and sax. It really had worked. She did a quick count of the tips, One Hundred Six! But that was not all that had been good about it.

"Hey DI A MUND!" Enrico had shouted as she was working up the buttons and twirling so the dress was really starting to flair out and leave almost nothing beyond to the imagination. "SMILE for the FLASH!" and she had given his camera more than a few hot moves, grace and a woman's perfect body, caught in an instant of hopefully sensual beauty to go up on that wall in that slide show picture frame and make the guys want to see it live. She had to admit that this set had really been kind of fun. Sometimes when everything clicked, it really could be fun. You were being entertaining, the audience was responding to your jokes and winks, your ego was really getting a big boost because dozens of guys were literally shouting how beautiful you were and how much they wanted to see more of you and be with you and? And you had managed to forget that you were only in your skin and imagined instead that you were just in a really organic costume.

She came down the stairs grinning. And who was back stage but Ariel. And was she holding Gabrielle's little pink bikini?

"Hey Ari?" she said smiling. "Give me a minute to put on my robe here." She opened her locker, lifted up her beautiful new white evening costume gown, and gently hung it up, then pulled out a bright red with black trim thick terry cloth bath robe and put it on, tying it up good at the waist.

"Hi Di! Jamoo, I saw that dress flaring out from you, it was all glittery. You'll have to model it for me some day all put together. You almost make me want to get up there and dance."

"Oh?" queried Diamond with a slight grin. "You're holding the perfect starter set right there."

"Oh this? No! I really couldn't get up there, but you make it look so . . . fun . . . it's why I said almost. I . . ."

"Hey," said Diamond smiling gently. "We're all big girls here. Nothing is for everyone and we all have special places to be. So . . . who's it for?"

Ariel almost said Jack, but she knew Diamond had been told about Jack and Diamond had been looking wistful about Jack and well? If she admitted tomorrow she fully planned to end the evening in his bed and arms, well, and . . . It could disappoint Diamond and she didn't want to do that. Diamond was such a nice girl, for a stripper. And well . . . well? . . . Oh my! . . . this was a really exciting idea! Maybe if there was a little competition? Maybe if Di thought she was not that interested in Jack, and was playing between him and . . . her present 'boy' friend? A contest! She'd win of course. Jack would drop Diamond the moment he found out she was a stripper, but as long as he didn't know and as long as . . . hmmm . . . the intrigue was really looking like this would be a VERY exciting romance to get involved in.

"Daniel," she answered. "I'm giving him a day tomorrow he'll remember me by." She grinned.

Gabrielle looked briefly at Ariel and let her mouth open just a smidgeon and let her right hand rise just a smidgeon towards covering it.

"Daniel?" replied Diamond, almost lighting up like a Snowflake Day tree. "I bet he'll appreciate it."

"Oh he will," replied Ariel winking. "Trust me he will."

She waved goodbye to both girls and walked out.

"If she's still being romantic with Daniel," mused Diamond looking at Gabrielle. "Then maybe if I run into Jack next week on my night off, I might still have a chance to see if he really is the nice cool guy that Cocoa said he was."

Gabrielle, somewhat stunned by what she had just heard, could only make a mute nod of agreement.

* * *

The sounds of water sloshing against the sides of the houseboat, as it made it's way through the straights and narrows between the various islands towards the Rocky Reef Diving Buoy, was the chief sound she was hearing. The bedroom she was changing in was gently rolling and swaying, and Ariel was having a bit of an issue keeping her balance, but that wasn't her chief problem.

Her derrière wasn't at all cooperating with this little bikini. Oh from the front, no problem. Little thin pink bit of cloth over her breasts, covering enough, but thin enough to present two dainty delicate gentle bumps leaving no doubt as to the promise beneath. And a cute little pink triangle which managed to cover up the hair, but so barely that maybe something might peak out and suggest what lay beyond? But when she looked at her back in the mirror, it was two lumps of jello salad, out of their molds, just kind of sagging there. This was not the tush of Cocoa, this was not the backside of Diamond, and this certainly was not the sit upon of Gabrielle. They had a perk to their cheeks. A sort of hey there I'm so bouncy give me a little pat boys I know how to give just right, which she seemed to be utterly lacking.

What was their secret?

"I can't go up there like that in this? He'll be happy enough until I turn to watch something and he'll see . . . that! And I can't just keep facing him. Sooner or later he's going to get the full view, and he'll want to get the full view and then . . . I'm screwed. And not . . . as Gabbi would add."

She was pacing . . . this was the swimming suit. It was what she had packed. She had even packed it so Jack had seen it peaking out of her purse. He had seen three little cloth triangles and not a big fourth. He KNEW what it was. He was grinning when she had said she was going to change now and for him to not go away, in her full flirty giggle just wait 'till you see my swimsuit tone. He was looking forward to seeing her come up and give him the private dancer show . . . well not exactly, just look like she ought to . . . and AUGH! She would be humiliated!

"Think Ariel! Think!" she was wracking her brain. "Why do Cocoa, Diamond, and Gabriel look so good from the back with just a little thong, or little string, or NOTHING. They even look perky when they are wearing nothing . . . maybe?" She dropped the bottom with a swift pull of her hands. Then looked again. Nope, nothing even remotely suggesting a difference at all. And besides . . . this really was pushing the borders. Yes, tonight, but he was going to pull it down, well actually he would probably untie the chords at the sides, but not her. She tried to put one leg through, lost her balance as the houseboat rolled in a wake, and landed upon the said part of her anatomy in a none too pleasant way. The carpet softened the blow, but barely.

"Oh oh oh now a big purple BRUISE!" she fretted. She was looking once again. There didn't seem to be any damage. The light was bright enough. She cocked her knee so that she might check further and? Hmm . . . there was a subtle shift. She tried bending both knees. That really didn't help and opened things up too much in the bottom to make her look a bit more vulgar. Diamond never let herself look vulgar. No, Diamond could stand there up on the stage and look over her shoulder holding her displaced thong in her left hand, dangling it by a single strap and her tush looked awesomely cute. And all she was doing was bending one knee forward so one side of her hips would sway just a bit. Well, that did something but not the whole . . . what else was she doing? She wasn't wearing anything else. Really! Just a bangle bracelet, necklace, maybe when her hair was sometimes pulled back in a pony tail to show off those cute exotic elven pointed ears, just a sequined garter belt and . . . pumps!

Did she have heels? Did she wear heels? Did she wear heels today? Did she just decide to put a little lift even though she had imagined she'd be barefoot in this suit and lay down upon the deck lounge to 'get the back tanned with no lines'? Yes! She had picked heels. She put them on. She braced herself against the wall. She once again positioned her self to see the mirror. And . . . well . . . that did do the trick. Not quite as dramatically as Cocoa's, not quiet as perky as Diamonds, not as tight as Gabbi, but it seemed to be affected by the high heels. So that was why they always wore pumps. It was the way the feet were placed. She kicked off her shoes and stood on the balls of her feet. Yes, it was the same effect. Her calves, thighs, and gluts all shifted with her feet. No wonder Diamond had referred to it as illusion. Yes, she had told Ariel the week prior that none of them looked like they did on stage in real life. "It's all make up, lights, and illusion," Diamond had said. "That's why," she had continued with a sigh. "It's so hard to find a nice guy. The guys expect us to look like we do on stage or in a centerfold on their bed. And we can't. So they think they've been cheated. And they throw us away after getting what they want and look for the next girl who just might be the real porn star and not that fake girl who pretended to be one."

"Who would have thought?" she mused. Well obviously Cocoa, Diamond, and Gabrielle. And that meant that when she lay down on the lounger to get that tan, all she had to do was make sure her feet were extended to the toes, fully stretched out, and her tush would be that perky little swat worthy pair of feminine mystique that the boys, but hopefully Jack the most, love.

"Okay Ariel," she mused. "Get up there and give him the full nelson." And as she started to walk up the stairs the illusion that Diamond referred to gave her further insights. On the beach, Ariel could probably compete with Diamond. Because Diamond would not look like she did on the beach like she did on stage. She would be way more . . . ordinary. But did that mean she would be able to slip into Get Funkys and give away no clue that she was a stripper to Jack? Even if she were dressed rather sexily? She just might. She might even be able to project the image of a shy innocent little elf. Ariel leaned against the pole of the spiral stair. Just what had she just possibly set into motion?

She smirked. Not really too much now that she thought about it. Diamond had an overbite. The sort braces couldn't fix. Her lower jaw was not long enough. Her skin was grey. So any blemishes or moles looked black, dirty, scabby. Ariel's skin was a healthy tanned pink. Just a few freckles. Under the sunlight? Ariel's skin looked fresh and healthy. Diamond only looked good under stage lights. And she was a stripper. Ariel smiled. No, this was going to be no contest.

She walked up to the top of the boat. Jack was at the wheel. She came up to him, covered his eyes, and said "Guess who?" He pretended she was Bella Goth, then he proposed she was Chrissie Landgraab, then he declared she had to be one of the Caliente girls. Then he gave up and she gave him another hint, turning him around and planing a very nice long kiss upon him before he pointed out that he had to keep looking forward before they ran aground. She agreed that would be a very bad way to end the date. So she pulled up a lounge chair and lay down upon it to 'get her tan'. Her feet were stretched out and she knew his eyes were upon her every moment he could afford to look. The sun was warm, and she relaxed. Then she reached back and undid her back stay. And let it fall to the side. No lines on the back. Every girl did that on the beach. More time. Then, oh didn't she just kind of forget that it was a guy at the wheel and just roll over on her back and lift the top off so she might avoid tan lines on top. She felt the warm sun on every inch of her front. It felt delicious. She forgot for a full ten minutes, then 'oopsy! Stop looking you peeper you!'. He knew it was bull and smirked even as she pretended to cover herself and look all shy.

They reached the scuba spot. They snorkeled. He found a lovely conch shell. The sort you could call mermaids with. She showed him how one could. But didn't. "They don't like being called for no reason," she explained. And she didn't want mermaid breasts in the water to distract him from the pair just under her top which had already been 'accidentally' exposed once. Then he made spaghetti for the two of them as the sun set. And he wasn't a bad cook. She talked about all sorts of fun things that you could do on the Islands, and he kept talking about plans for the future. She sighed and kept steering the conversation away from commitments. And then as the daylight began to fade, he sort of kind of forgot on purpose to turn any lights on. She turned on his boom box and they slow danced for a bit before she whispered into his ear, "My suit is feeling really clammy and constraining, can you loosen it for me?"

And he said, "If I do that, it might fall off and you'll be dressed just like that selfie you sent me."

And she said, "Oh, I hope so."

And so he did, and so it did, and then she led him by the hand down the stairs to the bed, and shortly there after, the strains of a harp drifted up from below.


	5. Chapter 5 - Look And See

**Look and See**

The third week of summer was upon them. Jack was now fully into the paper and everyone there knew him. His houseboat was filling out with furniture, and the Summer Festival was still going on.

"You've got to see the Summer Festival," insisted Valeri Vidal, one of Jack's co-workers and increasingly trusted friends. "It's a bit of local culture."

"Think I should invite Ariel?" he replied.

"I think you should go," she answered evasively.

Jack failed to pick up the clue of course. He was feeling increasingly confidant with Ariel, and she was more than happy to come along on another date.

"Hi Jack," she began. "I just broke it off with Daniel, so I've not got anyone special any more, except you."

And that really set the tone for the afternoon and evening. There was dancing, and then they engaged in a very long and protracted water balloon fight, ending up soaked and refreshed as the summer heat began to fade. But they were starving!

"Hot dog eating contest!" she shouted. "Let's chow!"

It seemed, given his hunger, to be a very good idea.

And she proved quite adept at 'chowing'. In fact she had eaten her full dozen hot dogs in half the time he had and ended up winning the contest. Then she began to look woozy. And started to burp a lot.

"Oh I'm sorry Jack," she groaned. "I ate them too fast 'cause I wanted to win that prize so much."

"What was the prize?" asked Jack.

"Another two week's supply of hot duuuu," and suddenly she dashed off for the bathroom holding her hands over her mouth.

Jack waited for a bit and then his smart phone beeped once for a text from Ariel.

"Threw up, had to go home, sorry. But it was really fun until then! So let's do something else next time, kay? Dag dag!"

Jack sighed. Then shrugged. Hey! They had woohooed together. She had slept then all night with him. She had eaten breakfast with him, not bothering to be anything other than pixeled, and she spent the entire day that way! He got to see all of her, all Sunday! And only in the evening when he piloted the boat back to his dock did she slip back into her yellow miniskirt and jacket with bra. She blew him another one of her steaming hot kisses and departed into the night. It was serious. It had to be serious. But frabbit! He had hinted that they should start going steady and she had insisted that breaking up with Daniel had made it seem sensible for her to wait a bit so he didn't turn out to be just a 'rebound' boyfriend. She still would not commit. Oh well, he'd keep working on it. She had to crack, sooner or later. And . . . the craziest idea just popped into his head. So long as he was unattached, what if someone better showed up? Wouldn't it be a really great idea to not be going with Ariel if some other girl proved to be way more compatible?

It was getting dark. The festival was beginning to wind down now that the tourists and their kids were heading off for the resorts. He began to wander towards the towers on the corner. There would be a taxi there and he'd get back home and hit the sack. Yes the evening was still young, but good sleep would put him in a good mood tomorrow at work.

"Tee hee tee hee tee hee!" What was that? Suddenly a little blue firefly light of some sort flitted about his head. A little baby blue light which seemed to have baby blue butterfly wings upon it.

"Tee Hee! Look and see! Don't be bashful! Follow me!" The little blue light sang.

Was this a fairy? He wasn't sure. He had heard of them, but never seen one. What did it want? They were supposed to do magic of course. And they could be tricky and sneaky and mischievous. But they could also be very nice and fun to be with.

"Tee Hee! Look and see! Don't be bashful! Follow me!" the little light sang again. And it bobbed in front of him and seemed to want to head to the right of the towers and towards the slope of the hill beyond the theater.

"Okay I'm coming," sighed Jack, grinning.

The little light bounded ahead, then would flit back, fly around his head, giggle a bit, and shoot off again. He followed through some trees and then it started bobbing over something on the ground.

"Treasure here, happy cheer, bright and shining, for my dear!"

Jack walked up, surprised. He leaned over and picked up a rock the size of his fist with some gemstone bits sticking out between the black rock. This . . . this could be worth some simoleons!

"Tee Hee! Look and see! Don't be bashful! Follow me!" The light continued to bound along the side of the hill and Jack, now fully committed, followed closely. Sure enough the little light flitted across the road and then began to hover over near Get Funky's. There was yet another black rock with even more gemstones sticking out of it.

"Treasure here, happy cheer, bright and shining, for my dear!"

"Hey!" began Jack. "Thanks. What do you want?"

"Tee Hee! Look and see! Don't be bashful! Follow me!"

"Allright allright!" laughed Jack.

The little light zipped over to Get Funkys and after bouncing a bit on the portico by the main doors, flitted into them as they opened and closed of their own accord.

"Now this is getting silly," chuckled Jack. "Well I suppose I'm supposed to be going through this club and go out the back and . . ."

He opened the door and walked in and found the little blue light flitting around the head of some one . . . some girl . . . some girl with white hair . . . white hair and grey skinned arms . . . with a black miniskirt and vest with red collar that . . . that matched her fingernails. Jack has a sense of deja vu. But he couldn't place it.

"Treasure here, happy cheer, bright and shining, for my dear!"

"Cut it out, Gabbi!" The girl was saying in a sweet, yet silky alto voice. "You're embarrassing me! Stop it you silly fairy! I'm going to be alright I . . ."

She was following the little fairy with her gaze and as it flitted from behind her to between her and Jack so she turned around and faced him.

His eyes widened as she suddenly took a sharp breath.

It was that incredibly beautiful dark elven girl he had seen last week in this very place.

"Treasure here, happy cheer, bright and shining, for my dear!" And then the little blue light flitted up into the ceiling rafters and seemed to vanish.

Jack instinctively reached for the gemstones in his pocket.

"Hi," he said. What else was he supposed to do? "I'm Jack . . . Jack Fearthegn. And that silly little fairy led me right here."

"She is a silly fairy," agreed the girl. She was smiling every so slightly. And then she was having a hard time meeting his gaze. She started to shyly look down.

"What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?" she was thinking frantically.

"Um, what's your name?" asked Jack. He was really getting into the shyness. That little lost fawn was coming back into that incredibly . . . yeah it was a simply incredibly beautiful face.

"Diamond," she said, looking back up to him cautiously. "Gemstone," she added softly.

"No way."

"You've heard of me?" The girl had a sudden spasm of panic in her eyes.

"No way, you don't understand," began Jack. He might have been baffled by her crazy panic attack over his response to her name, but he pulled out the two gemstones from his pocket. "That silly little fairy led me to these first, told me they were treasure and then led me to . . . you."

"Oh!" she began to cry. "Oh Gabbi! You sweet little . . . Oh! Oh!"

"Gemstones," he said. "One red, one green, and then . . . you . . . and your name's, Diamond."

"Get a GRIP girl!" Diamond was thinking frantically. "You're going to pieces, he's just a guy, just like all the guys in the audience when you're on stage. STAGE! BE ON THE STAGE."

"I guess that means you're the treasure," suggested Jack. He found himself grinning a silly little grin.

"Oh great Jack," his mind started to scream. "She's going to think you're some sort of pervert, be serious, be a gentleman!" But then he noticed she was suddenly acting more confidant. There was a 'take charge' in her posture. Something both . . . curiously professional and yet, kind of sexy in her expression. How could that be?

"Oh my!' exclaimed Diamond. She took a serious pose. "Gabbi has declared me the treasure for the treasure seeker, the princess for the prince. I must act the part." She took a formal pose. She lifted a hand.

Jack's surprise was replaced by a sudden ironic comprehension of what this girl had just started to do. He began to snigger. He was beginning to really like this girl. She was being a real cut up. She literally was putting on a show, like some stage magician!

"And a treasure must sparkle," she added. Magical sparks and stars and wisps of colored dust began to dance upon her fingers. "Fill the air with glitter!" she continued throwing her hands up into the air as the misty magic of witchery floated down around her. "And a most noble expression upon the face," she added. She clasped her hands in a formal pose. Her visage was regal, royal, and then . . . her eyes crossed and her upper teeth were over her lower lip and then she tilted her head to a crazy angle over suggesting it was about to fall off her neck.

And Jack roared with laughter.

"Yes! Yes!" he almost shouted it. "And it won't do if I'm not prince charming right? I gotta be the handsome elegant royal . . ." he exaggerated his voice like he thought it ought to sound. "Forsooth fair maiden I must express myself royally . . . Duh what do I do, Duh what do I do?"

And now it was Diamond's turn to giggle and he joined her. And the two of them just laughed for a moment.

"Oh Diamond," he finished. "I needed that. Really, I needed that release. So much tension. So much uncertainty." He rested his hands upon her shoulders. "Oh thank you for letting me meet you."

He suddenly realized his hands were on her shoulders. And then he realized she had laid her hands gently upon his hands. And her expression was fully in his gaze. And she was practically beaming.

"And . . . thank you for letting me just be silly for a moment," she said. Suddenly she felt completely at ease with him. It was going to be alright. She didn't have to be afraid any longer. It was as if . . . as if her soul mate had just come through that door for the thousandth time.

He lowered his hands off her shoulders and as he withdrew them, she gently brushed them with her fingers as she withdrew hers.

"Well," continued Jack. "Do you come here often?"

"Just maybe once a week," she said. "My night off."

"Oh, you work evenings then?" asked Jack. "What do you do?"

His question had such an innocent tone to it that Diamond was once again rapidly approaching full panic.

"I do magic," she said rapidly. And that was true. "I . . . put on . . . magic shows . . . I'm really good at illusions."

And the crazy thing was, she knew she wasn't exactly lying. It was all illusion. She transformed herself from a woman into a goddess of erotic love upon the stage. For no woman could look like she did on stage while they were on the bed waiting for their lover to approach. "Whew!" she thought. "That was close. Not bad fast thinking for such a silly dumb girl."

"Jamoo!" exclaimed Jack. "I'm really glad to hear you do magic. Some of the girls here who perform . . ." and he ventured to cough suggestively.

She was still on stage. Her stage smile was still intact.

"You'll have to show me some of your tricks some time," he continued.

"Maybe," she answered evasively. "Stage performances take preparation and there are secrets one must keep." And that too was true. You didn't just tell any stripper how your thighs looked that trim under the lights. They would steal the trick from you and give you nothing in exchange. "And what do you do?"

"I'm in the paper right now," he said. "But I want to be an author."

"Oh . . ." sighed Diamond. "That sounds so romantic."

"It does?" Jack was surprised. Ariel had been totally bored by his dreams. Cocoa had been 'meh!' about it. Not that he really cared what she thought. Trey of course was thrilled at the idea. But this . . . this was the first girl who had been excited about him being an author.

"Telling stories," began Diamond with a little girl sigh. "Telling stories of dashing men on white horses galloping across the wheat fields sweeping up young farmer's daughters and riding off into the sunset with them. Finding a barn for them to take shelter in during a storm, building a warm fire . . . cuddling close . . . their first kiss." She had her eyes closed while Jack watched her totally get into it . . . "She begins to breath deeply. They kiss some more as he runs his fingers across her shoulders, resting upon her neck, unbuttoning her bodice, as she sighs feeling his hands gently caressing her OOPS!"

She began to giggle and giggled even more when she saw how red Jack's face was getting. "Oh my, you do get embarrassed easy." She sniggered more. "Oh Jack, I'm so sorry. I'm such a cheesy lover of paper back romance. I . . . I just want . . . I just want someone to . . . carry me away too. Is that so bad? To want someone to protect me . . . protect me from the bad things?" She looked almost apologetic. And then that little fawn came back into her expression.

"Tell me," began Jack. "If I were working on a novel. And I wanted to read a paragraph to you and see what you thought. Would you want me to do it?"

"Oh yes, Jack," she said. "I'd want to know the story too."

"You would?"

"Yes," she said.

"Well then," began Jack. I'm thinking of a new book, titled "Love Under A Beldin Moon."

"What's Beldin?"

"It's my fantasy town. Where all sorts of fun people live, characters of all sorts. There's a king and queen, prince and princess."

"Is he handsome? Is she beautiful?"

"The King?"

"The prince, silly. The king's married. He was handsome when he married his queen but now I'm sure he's old and wise and she's matronly and motherly and . . ."

"Diamond?"

"Yes," she asked.

"Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are?" It was out of Jack's mouth before he could grasp what he had said. But there she was, joining him in his creative process. Eagerly joining in fact. It was the most beautiful thing that had ever happened to him. Here . . . here was a soul mate. A woman who would be over his shoulders watching him write. Watching him create. Wanting him to succeed.

She looked down and that silly little overbite once again had her front teeth over her lower lip. She looked up back at him with her big, absolutely wonderful eyes, her face still facing the table so it seemed as if she was looking up at him.

"No," she said softly swaying her shoulders. It was another big whopper. She was informed every night by her audience that she was the goddess, the hottest goddess ever to present her lovely perfectly chiseled feminine body for the inspection of every male eye in the club. Her breasts in particular were beautiful. She was told so almost every night. She had lost track of all the adjectives audience members had used to describe them, not that she really liked most of the words. Slang in particular she found tiresome. And of course other parts of her body were pointed out as being especially attractive. Some more than others, for obvious reasons. And then there was the stage comedian who had slipped a bill in her garter and motioned for her to lean over and he had whispered into her ears . . . "you have such a great set . . . of knuckles!" She had lost it, giggling for the next three stanzas of the song. But it was the first time any guy had told her that across the table that didn't know she was a stripper. And he was looking right at her face. Into her eyes. He was talking about her face. The one part of her that everyone saw, that everyone didn't think twice of showing. And she could not recall any audience member who had done that. So maybe it wasn't such a falsehood after all. "And has anyone ever told you how handsome a man you are?"

Suddenly Jack realized. That not once had Ariel ever said he was good looking. Not once!

"No," he said totally mystified by that. "Well," he continued still looking into her eyes. He was simply loving the little shy fawn look she was giving him. "You are you know. You're so . . . so exotic in your beauty too. Your big eyes with those bright red irises, that silky white gossamer hair falling down on either side of your face . . . your . . . are your ears really elven?" He tentatively reached out and she tilted her head as an invitation. He gently brushed back her hair. And she felt a little shiver. No man had ever brushed her hair so gently. And he ran his fingers lightly over her ears, feeling them coming to a point at the top.

"A smokey grey mist in a dream," he whispered.

She was getting all shy and girly again. But she wasn't worried any more. She was off the stage, and she was just being . . . Diamond. The Diamond she always wanted to be.

"I'm in a dream," she thought. "I'm going to wake up in my rabbit hole and look out over the sun rising and I'll . . . I'll start to cry." It struck her as so sad, she found a tear rolling down her cheek.

"Hey," he said. "Nothing wrong with being compared to smokey mist . . ."

"It's . . . it's . . . Oh Jack, I'm such a silly stupid girl I don't know how you can be attracted to me but this has been the most wonderful encounter I've ever had in my life!"

"Well it's been pretty awesome for me too," he exhaled. "I mean . . . so much wrapped up in just a single . . . how long have we been talking now?"

"I don't know," she said.

They both looked around at the club. The music was still playing, there were still people at the bar. They looked back at each other.

"Let's dance," he said. "Let's get some of this emotion out."

"Yes," she said. "Let's."

And he got out on the floor with her and began to wave his arms and stomp his feet and she began to giggle. He was such a clumsy dancer. He really didn't know what he was doing. So she started to move her feet and then her legs became grey liquid and then her hips began to sway to the beat. Her shoulders began to dip to the rhythm with her arms weaving music in the air and her head swaying gently to one side and then to the other. And Jack just saw a dream materialize before him. Was it a swan upon the water, or the ripple in the water from the swan's gliding across the surface he was seeing, or was it both?

"Diamond!" he exclaimed as she wove a tapestry around him with her movement. "I've never seen anyone dance as good as you!"

He was looking at her with rapt admiration. Genuine appreciation. It was almost worship in her mind. And she began to dream of saying, "You should see me under the lights. You should see me when my gown starts to fall away. You should see me when all I'm wearing is my skin and silver, glittering under the flashing strobes, my sweat gleaming upon my chest, my eyes covered in red rogue, my long legs limber and and my pumps slamming the floor to the beat. Yes, Jack, you should see me when I'm the goddess of the dancers. See me . . . and love me . . . and hold me in your arms."

She really wanted him to see her dancing like that. She forgot she was in a disco. Her hands almost reached for the top button of her vest. But then she remembered where she was and what that would do.

"Down girl!" she practically screamed in her mind. "He can't find out! You can't let him know! He'll leave you forever!"

She tentatively stole a glance at him. He was still stomping about waving his arms. He had not noticed. But she could still dance. She could still express her love of him. And it was love. She was sure of it. She really was in love. This was him. This was the man. This was who she had been looking for. And so she wove her spell with her movement. She swayed to the rhythm, she stamped to the beat. And then? And then it was four in the morning and the club was closing.

They walked quietly to the door and out. The bartender snorted a 'finally' as he closed the door behind them.

"When will you be back here?" asked Jack. He wanted to ask her out. But he still had committed partially to Ariel. He couldn't, in his mind, two time her. But he could still meet Diamond here again soon. And something might have happened in the meantime.

"Two nights," she said. "I'll be free again, Wednesday."

"I'll be here right after work at five," he said.

She smiled, walked to the street, and pulled out a broom. Yes a broom. She definitely was a witch. And she hopped upon it, looked back at him and smiled, and then she was off and zipping down the road, vanishing against the starry sky.

"I've got a spell cast on me," sighed Jack.

Of course the next day he was utterly exhausted. The day's work load was a blur. Trey may have commented upon a recent political shift, but he wasn't sure. Ojeda may have asked him to rewrite an article by Valeri, but he didn't really remember if he had or hadn't. The drive in the carpool home was fuzzy. He remembered he was walking down the grass to the dock. He was vaguely aware he was walking into the houseboat. And then, to the tune of a nighty night song, he fell to the floor and was sound asleep for several hours.

Diamond may not have been a night owl, but she worked most of the night already. She went back to her rabbit hole, got into her big fuzzy pajamas, crawled into her bed, and slept smiling, dreaming of kissing Jack all night. Waking up the next afternoon, she practically skipped to the street, waved hello to everyone she saw, hopped on her broom, and began to zip off towards Scuzzbuckets. She was going to give Gabrielle the biggest hug that fairy had ever gotten.

* * *

"Here I am!" sang Gabrielle, flitting about the dressing room dressed in her sweats, t-shirt with tennis shoes and white cotton socks. One of the younger dancers, Rochelle, was busy watching her, having taken a break from working on her make up. "It's such a happy day! I feel like throwing fairy dust about! Whee! She threw little sparkles into the air that settled upon her. And poof! Her sweat shirt was gone. Whee! More sparkles, and poof! So were her sweat pants. Whee! And poof! went her t-shirt.

"Oh!" She cried, looking out at an imaginary audience beyond Rochelle. "I've lost my sweats! I must have used skivvies dust and not fairy dust! Silly me, And I'm in my underwear now. You don't mind . . . do you?" She paused. "You don't? It's alright?"

Rochelle nodded as she pursed her lips.

Satisfied that the gimmick was working so far. Gabrielle said to Rochelle, "Give me a beat dear." And Rochelle began to beat her hands upon the make up table in a dance rhythm. Gabrielle began to dance, and then to make little leaps into the air and hover as she tossed more dust. First one shoe vanished. Then another shoe vanished, and then each of the cotton socks, one at a time . . . She once again turned to face the audience, hovering just above the floor, her stage front leg crooked up with a rather demure expression upon her face. "Oh dear!" she said with fake concern. "I'm down to my skivvies . . . I can't make any more clothes disappear . . . I might . . . I might catch cold!" She paused. "Are you disappointed? Oh dear! I shouldn't have been such a tease should I. . . . you disagree?" And then she looked serious. "It seems . . . I've committed myself to a performance. And the show . . . Must Go On!" She adopted a dramatic visage. She twirled, added a saucy wink, and threw more sparkles into the air. "Farewell my little bra." She said. Then she paused. The bra was still there. "I said . . ." she continued throwing more sparkles into the air. "Fare well . . . get lost . . . scram!" Most dust flew. And the bra remained firmly in place.

Rochelle began to giggle and Diamond walked in.

"Gabbi!" she cried and dashed over and gave the fairy a big hug. "It was so wonderful last night. He's so perfect! Thank you thank you thank you! I am in love!" she twirled about with the biggest happiest smile anyone had ever seen her wear.

Gabrielle smiled. "Well," she thought. "If Ariel is going to play little games, I can play them too. And looks like I won this throw."

"I'm so happy for you Di!" she said out loud. "Nice to know something worked right."

"What's the matter Gabbi?" asked Diamond. "Can I help?"

"I can't get my bra off!" Gabrielle cried. "If this happens tonight on stage I'll be SO EMBARRASSED!"

"Can't remove your bra?" a look of utter bafflement crossed Diamond's face. "Gabbi how long have you had this . . . um . . . problem?"

Rochelle lost it.

"You know skivvies dust?" began Gabrielle, "One of our little tricks we play on annoying people, like paparazzi?"

"Well of course," replied Diamond.

"Watch!" Gabrielle pulled her t-shirt back on. "Whee!" and sparkles flew up into the air and the t-shirt vanished.

Diamond nodded.

Gabrielle once again threw the dust in the air and the bra remained latched upon her chest. She looked frustrated at Diamond.

"Gabbi," mused Diamond. "It's skivvies dust right?"

Gabrielle nodded.

"So the trick leaves you in your skivvies, right?"

Gabrielle nodded again.

"And for a girl, her skivvies are bra and panties. So of course it won't make your bra go poof."

Gabrielle did a face palm. "I'm such a ditz!" she cried. "I have to make sure I'm not wearing any skivvies for the costume I do this on. Hmm, that might mean I have to change the patter because I can't say I'm in my underwear can I?"

"Depends on what sort of stage bra and panties you use," mused Diamond. "If you make them white cottony and not particularly glittery, they might pass as underwear on stage."

"Yes, that might work, Di. You're such a clever girl at this sort of thing."

"Oh bull," snorted Diamond.

Rochelle just looked at Diamond in disbelief. Nearly every single dancer at Scuzzbucket's owed the resolution of some performance crises to Diamond's quick thinking.

Cocoa walked in with an atta girl grin. "Hey Diamond," she said. "There's been talk of a dark elven girl who was dressed in some seriously slinky club wear dancing really hot and heavy around Jack Fearthegn all last night. You wouldn't happen to know who she was would you?"

"Hmmm," suggested Diamond, putting her finger on her lips and appearing to be thinking. "A dark elven girl in slinky club wear. Kind of goofy when she smiles?"

"That's her," said Cocoa grinning.

"And was the club wear mostly black with just a hint of red, to go with her eye rogue and fingernails?"

"Very much so," confirmed Cocoa. Her eyes began to twinkle.

"And does she do magic with a bright red wand?"

"I do believe she does," continued Cocoa, getting into the game.

"And are her legs particularly long?"

"Well, I suspect they are longer than average," answered Cocoa.

"And," Diamond looked slightly conspiratorial. "She's a stripper in Scuzzbucket's, right?"

"Oh yes," continued Cocoa. "That definitely is the rumor."

"Nope, haven't heard of her," finished Diamond.

"DETAILS!" Cocoa practically shouted. "How good was he in bed! Did you tingle? It's no fun if you don't tingle!"

"We didn't go to bed," sighed Diamond. She suddenly realized she wasn't disappointed at all about that.

"What!?" Cocoa in particular expressed that. Rochelle looked surprised and Gabrielle just raised an eyebrow.

"He and I danced until the club closed. And then we went outside and he asked when I would be free again and asked me to meet him there. We . . . we didn't even kiss."

"Woah . . . what's he holding himself back for?" mused Cocoa.

"Especially after Ariel was with him for Saturday in a next to nothing pink bikini," thought Gabrielle. "And from the way she talked, it wasn't going to stay on long."

"Dunno," mused Diamond. "But Cocoa . . . that's . . . that's what made it so Romantic! Oh he was so Romantic! I . . . I was dreaming of him all night."

"So when are you seeing him again?" asked Gabrielle.

"I said I was free Wednesday night," replied Diamond.

"Di!" cried Cocoa. "You're not free. You go on right after Rosa opens! She's dancing classical evening gown big band timpani and you're the heavy metal snap leather combo right afterwards."

"Frabbit!" cried Diamond. "I'm such a stupid girl; why did I say that to him? I have to be there at Get Funky's. Ariel's still hovering around him. If he thinks I'm not reliable she'll more quickly get him into bed and once that happens I've lost him! Quick! I have to be sick Wednesday night! What's the story?"

The three other dancers nodded. It was clear they had done this before.

"What do you think?" mused Rochelle. "Whooping Cough? Bounder's terrified of that."

"Heavy flow night," suggested Gabrielle. "Always a shut down."

"Explosive diarrhea," added Cocoa. "Never fails that one. Bounder gets really touchy about curtain maintenance."

"All three," concluded Diamond.

"Right," the other girls concurred. Diamond was going to be very sick indeed come Wednesday night.


	6. Chapter 6 - Waterfalls and Pianos

**Waterfalls and Pianos**

"Well Jack," began Ojeda on Tuesday. "You're really making a hit around here."

"Thanks," he said, slightly surprised.

"You clearly were out of it yesterday, but even then, you pulled off an incredible bit of writing, fixing Valeri's blog article, tightening it up and generating a whole two dozen new followers for her."

"Whoa!" sighed Jack. "That was just a blur for me."

"I could tell," she observed. "Just how much sleep did you get Sunday night?"

"Two hours tops," sighed Jack. "I met this really nice girl at Get Funkys and we danced until closing."

"Oh? Not Ariel?"

"No."

"Care to share?"

Jack paused. Something seemed to suggest to him that it wasn't the right timing.

"Not yet. I don't know if she's going to be reliable. I'll let you know if she and I meet Wednesday. It may turn out that we're just good friends. But she did seem to be a very nice relationship prospect. And . . . Ojeda? I've never seen a woman dance like she did."

"You haven't? Hmmm. Jack? She isn't a . . ."

"Stage Magician. She said she performed Illusions," assured Jack. "Believe me Ojeda. Had she turned out to be a stripper I would have been polite, finished the time with her. Then steered clear of that coral reef. Given it wide berth. I don't need that sort of trouble maker on my resume."

"Oh? Stage Magician?" said Ojeda. She seemed pleasantly surprised. "Oh I know exactly who she is. We only have one Stage Magician on the Islands. And Jack, she's a real sweetie that one. And the magic she can do, and not just with props."

"Yes," replied Jack. "That's what enabled us to hit it off. She did the sparkles she did. A real cut up routine that had me roaring."

"Sounds just like her. Don't worry Jack," said Ojeda smiling. "She'll be there. All a flutter too if I know her. You've got a good catch there, Jack. Believe me when I say you want to get to know that woman."

"Thanks!" exclaimed Jack.

"Now, for the reason why you are here," continued Ojeda. "We're promoting you to Freelance Writer. I expect articles from you, at least one every week. Can you do it?"

"No problem," exclaimed Jack. "I'm already working on my next book. I can put that on hold easy."

"Good to know Jack. You'll find your new stipend in accounting and keep up the good work."

Jack dashed out of the office in a very good mood.

"Well, well," sighed Yelena Ojeda. "He hit it off with Ayumi Dragonfly. They'd make a great couple. She and her little fairy personality all a buzzy. He'll no doubt be meeting Poochie, Sapphire, and Sanguine soon enough then."

After all, just about anyone on the Islands who had lived there more than a few weeks had heard of the Jesters, that all girl band that played in all the venues but, as so often the case with struggling musicians, had side careers as well.

* * *

"What to wear what to wear what to wear oh! Diamond! If you keep doing the slink he's gonna figure it out! You have to give him another image!" She was pacing in front of her chest of drawers in her underwear. And she didn't have a thing to wear. Now someone looking in her drawers would have immediately disagreed. There were several tight little miniskirts, crop top t-shirts cut high. Slinky vests, dress corsets, and little black or red dresses by the tons. Greek shoes which wrapped up the calves. Heels that went up to the sky. In short, the sort of wear you would expect a girl to own who's whole life centered around looking as hot and sexy as possible for eight hours every night. In desperation she started pulling things out and tossing them into corners in piles trying to see what was underneath. One might have noted that she seemed to possess a particular skill in tossing garments in that they all fell into either the left or right heap in the back left or right corner. Nothing seemed to fly out of the designated air pattern. What could she say? She had a lot of practice.

Then her eyes fell upon the perfect outfit.

"I can't believe I still have that." she whispered. "How long has it been?"

It was a matter of seconds and she had it on. Dashing up and out of her rabbit hole, she made for the road.

"Hey!" shouted some guy to her left motioning to his friends around him and then pointing to her. "It's that stripper, Diamond Gemstone! Yeah hot stuff! Show us the color of your little thong, babe!"

She was wearing panties, so she opted to display a pixeled finger to the guys instead. The robin in the branch above her flipped out when he saw that.

Then she was on her broom and humming down the road.

Get Funky's was open. But Jack just couldn't wait inside. The sun was setting. The summer warmth was fading, and . . . he just liked listening to the wind blowing through the palm fronds. And? Well he just could not wait for her arrival. He started to hear a curious little humming and up she came on her broom. She got off of it and parked. And came skipping up to him.

"Sul sul!" she said smiling. She looked positively happy.

Jack just smiled and gazed upon her. She was in those black weave shoes from the night before, but she had a billowing white skirt which ended just above the knees, pleated and loose. Her top was embellished with layered frilly in varying shades of red and black. She looked just like an ordinary girl you might see walking down the street, window shopping. And her hair was pulled back into a pony tail so he would see her pointed ears.

"Well aren't you looking cute and innocent today," he said. "I like it."

There was a shy fawn looking up at him.

"Are we dancing all night again?" she asked in her full flirt voice, soft and cutesy. "Are you going to sweep me off my feet in that rugged jacket you are wearing? Are the gazes from your eyes through those bold glasses going to make my little elven heart go pit a pat?"

"I was first thinking that," he began, struggling to not chuckle. "Dancing. But . . . I want to take a walk instead. The road ends here, we can maybe walk down the beach to the waterfall?"

"I'd love that," she said as they turned and began to walk from the road into the trees and slowly down the hill towards the beach road. "I've been so busy for so long just . . . trying to survive . . . I've hardly seen anything in the Islands."

"Survive?" Asked Jack. "Diamond, how could a girl like you not be able to keep your head above water?"

"Jack," she sighed. "It's really hard for me. I have a hard time with finances, keeping it all straight. And so much money has to go out for costuming . . . props . . ."

She was thinking stage magician again. She had worked very hard on the flight over getting into the mentality. So much could be talked about of her life that would be true and yet hide the truth.

"Tell me about it," he groaned. "I still have the cheapest computer available. Only good really for word processing but . . ."

"Are you writing your love story?" she asked suddenly. "The one you were talking about Sunday night?"

"Well it's not entirely a love story," mused Jack. "You see, Beldin is a really deep place, by the wide river Karen and there are all sorts of fun people living in it, like S'nae D'Vreeze, Anself 'Bookie Boy' Cutter, Pellifer, Vrendel, and . . ."

"Who are these people Jack," she whispered quietly. "I want to know all about them."

And he began to talk. They walked, and talked and he found himself along the beach and then, they were at a waterfall which tumbled into an open small bay. The sun had set, the stars were rising, and they sat in the sand. And still she wanted to know more about these characters he was creating in his head.

"S'nae," he was saying. "She's a musician, real trickster, always pulling some stunt or another. You can't take anything she says for sure. But she's got one weakness."

"Oh?"

"She's got a big crush on this big blond guy named Goudie Tushuz."

Diamond began to giggle. "You are so silly, you named him that on purpose."

"Of course," replied Jack. He leaned back. His hand touched her fingers. And before he could pull it away, she had latched on. He was holding her hand. He looked at her. She was looking at him in a way he had never seen in a woman before. She was looking at him as if the most wonderful thing had ever happened to her. He was mesmerized for a moment.

There was so much love and devotion in those eyes. He couldn't absorb it immediately. It seemed to be so intense. It was as if this girl was totally ready to make him her entire life. He wasn't sure if that was the smartest move for her to make, but at the same time, it was him she was totally focused upon. How could this have happened? How could he have gotten such an incredibly attractive woman to be that suddenly and so obviously in love with him.

He was torn. He had worked so hard to get Ariel to commit, and here was a woman who was utterly devoted already. Ariel still was not committing. They had sent a few texts but no plans had been set up yet for another date. But those big eyes had gotten so close. She was looking directly into his eyes.

"Jack?" she whispered. "You're not saying anything."

Was this a spell? Was she putting a love charm on him?

"Diamond? Are you casting a spell?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing," she whispered. Her mouth was slightly open, her eyes were half shut, she was leaning in closer. "I want you to kiss me," she whispered. "Kiss me all night. Make me your own . . . forever Jack. I . . . want you. Only you. Kiss me darling Jack. Kiss me. Let me say 'I love you.'"

His heart was pounding. She pulled his hand to her chest, upon her heart, holding it down between her breasts. He could feel her heart pounding as well. It dawned upon him that this wasn't a come on. This was deep and intimate communication. It was all about her beating heart. She wanted him to know how she was really feeling.

And they kissed. It was soft, gentle, brushing of lips. It was so silent and graceful. He looked at her again. She was almost trembling. He gave her another soft gentle kiss. "Diamond," he whispered. "How can . . ."

"I love you," she sighed. Then she threw her arms around him and practically threw him to the ground and squeezed him as tightly as her arms could muster.

"Oh Jack," she practically sobbed. "I love you I love you I love you so much!"

Jack exhaled upon his back as she snuggled up next to him. Her head was in the crook of his neck and she was holding on. He put his arm around her shoulder. She sighed and snuggled closer. It wasn't Ariel by a long shot. But? It was so much nicer. She was not forcing herself upon him. She was clinging as to a life preserver. This wasn't about woo hoo, this was about just being with someone. Being in love with someone. Being alive and close. It was that teen age together forever bond that he had not felt in . . . not since . . . ever. He had never felt anything like this before. His arms literally began to itch, and only by squeezing her more tightly did they get relief. And she just clung more and more tightly back.

"This IS love," he realized.

"I love you too, Diamond," he sighed and closed his eyes.

Then, there was a soporific relaxation. As if mother nature had decided that the point and message had been delivered loud and clear and now they could settle back and meditate on what had just happened. They watched the stars drift overhead for a bit.

"Tell me about your friends," he said. "Tell me about your work. Tell me about what you think about night after night pulling rabbits out of a hat."

"Tell me about your life," she deftly countered. "Tell me about your work. Talk to me Jack. Your life is so much more interesting than mine. I just know it."

She would tell him. She had it all planned out.

"There will come a night," she mused. "We will be in his house boat. On the top deck, cuddled close, and we'll start to kiss. And I'll tell him I want to be carried to his bed and stay all night with him. And he'll pick me up and carry me there. And we'll woo hoo all night. And then, in the morning. I'll gently break it to him. I'll promise him to give it up if he'll just promise to marry me and keep me safe from the bad things."

But until then, it was going to be all about him. She had to hide the rest.

And for a bit he took the bait. He chatted about work at the paper, his new promotion, which she expressed particular excitement about that. He was now writing, he was closer to his dream. And he was once again reminded that she was actually wanting him to reach his dream. It was really important to her.

"Diamond?" He asked as he stood up and looked for a way back to the main park where the summer festival was. "Do you have any dreams?"

"Yes," she said.

They were walking now hand in hand back up the hill, slowly. Swaying side by side, stealing glances at each other.

"I dream of a guy who'll take me into his arms and carry me off to a secret island . . . where the bad things can't find us. Where we can have babies and watch them grow up. Where we can stand and rest our heads on each other when they marry and have babies of their own. Where every night I will feel strong arms around me, and know that I am safe. That nothing can hurt me any more."

"Have . . . have you been hurt, Diamond?"

"My mother . . ." she said quietly. "She hurt me . . . she hurt my father . . . She said I was an accident and I never should have been born. She said she never loved me. Then . . . then she ran off and left us. Father . . . he . . . died of a broken heart. I've been alone ever since."

He looked at her. She had such a sad face.

"I'll never hurt you like that," he said squeezing her shoulder. "I promise."

"I know," she said. "I know you won't. That's why I know I can love you."

There was the sounds of a piano being played up by the theater. It was drifting down the hill.

"Ayumi!" she said with a sudden smile. "Oh Jack! Ayumi is playing up by the theater. You have to meet her she's so funny and cute!"

She took off running up the hill, pausing to call him forward. Panting they got to the top.

In front of the theater, in the center of a small crowd were two women playing. One was strumming a guitar. She was a dark elf like Diamond. But she had her white hair done up in two ponytails on either side of her head. She had a jacket on, long plaid skirt and white blouse. Next to her, with long black hair, colorful kimono, almond eyes, and turquoise transparent dragonfly wings, was a smaller Japanese fairy, her fingers flying across the keyboard of a portable electric piano. Both girls were jamming with a tip jar in front. Some money was coming in, but it was looking to be a slow night in spite of the fact that numerous people were around bobbing their heads to the music.

"Ayumi!" cried Diamond

"Diamond!" cried Ayumi. She promptly flitted over while the dark elven girl continued to play.

"How's the theater?" asked Diamond

"Ow slay and uggish slay! How's the . . ."

"X nay on the per stray," sang Diamond.

"Career?" finished Ayumi.

"Not a bad night last night. Only deled fondayed ice tway."

"No ust day for the verts pay?"

"Gabbi wasn't about," replied Diamond.

"What are they talking about?" mused Jack. "Some sort of performance slang?" He looked over that the dark elf. She was chuckling and shaking her head as she continued to run rifts across the guitar. Her feet were gently soft shoeing to the strums of her guitar and gracefully passing by the various people gathered about, paying special attention to some of the younger kids who apparently had never seen a grey skinned elven girl before and were possessing a curious 'golly gee she's different' gaze.

"Gabbi?" he thought suddenly. He remember she had called the little blue light Gabbi.

"Gabbi is not Aymui right?"

"No no no!" laughed Ayumi. "She and I are not even related. No no, Gabbi is another fairy. I'm Ayumi and you must be Jack! Diamond has been talking about you and she was hoping she would meet you ever since word got out among the . . . theater people . . . that you were cool."

"We met," added Diamond. "And We're In LOVE!" She threw her arms up for good measure.

"Oh! Oh! Diamond you are so lucky! Jack you are so lucky! There is no sweeter girl that Diamond!"

"Really?" asked Jack starting to grin. He had been told by two people that Diamond was a catch. He was feeling a little self conscious and felt his face flush. Suddenly he wanted to tell Ayumi how they had met. "It was Gabbi that let me to Diamond," he began. "I was feeling a little blue because my date had gotten sick and left me early and this little blue light flitted by and began to tell me to follow it."

Diamond was listening with rapt attention.

"And she led me to this gemstone. It was an emerald. And then she made me follow her to another gemstone which turned out to be a ruby. And then, she led me into Get Funky's and . . . there was Diamond."

"Oh how SWEET! CUTSIE CUTSIE SWEET!" squealed Ayumi. She was going in a tiny circle stamping her little feet upon the ground.

"That's how she did it, Jack?" asked Diamond.

"Yeah," replied Jack.

"She was so clever," sighed Diamond. "I'd never think of something that tricky." She sighed. "I'm too stupid to do that."

Jack started. That was the second time he had heard her refer to herself as stupid.

"So Ayumi! What happened to you this afternoon? All I had was a crises about what I was going to wear for my date with Jack."

Jack chuckled. What was it with girls and their dressing panics?

"Birthday party!" cried Ayumi dancing rapidly on her small feet. "There was a birthday party at the theater for some kid who was growing up into a teenager! And that means?"

"Cake!" laughed Diamond.

"Cake! Cake! Cake!" cried Ayumi dancing about on her dainty feet. "Oodles and oodles and oodles of fluffy creamy frosty cake and I ate piece after piece after piece and you know what that means?"

"Sugar High!" cried Diamond and Ayumi together throwing their hands up in the air and facing each other.

"Who's birthday?" asked Jack.

"Who cares?" replied Ayumi "There was cake!"

"You went to a birthday party and you didn't know who it was for?" laughed Jack.

"There was cake!" argued Ayumi, as if that was all the reason that was necessary. "And I did some magic tricks so they thought someone had hired me to be there."

"Then what?" asked Diamond. "I know that look. You did something else didn't you!"

"Yes!" cried Ayumi. "At the birthday party I had some cute guy deliver a pitcher of pink lemonade to Sanguine who was hauling in speakers for a kiss."

"Pink Lemonade?" laughed Diamond. "To Sanguine? Did she fall for it."

"Glug glug glug EUUUUUUUUU! Bleaaaaaaaaah!" pantomimed Ayumi holding her stomach and bending over. Diamond just giggled and giggled and then looked at Jack as if to say, "This is my world, Jack."

Jack was standing on the threshold of something he'd never seen before. Like him, these people were creative. Who, like him, were working with images. But where as he was trying to put them on paper, they were putting them on themselves. Then he began to wonder. Was this all an act? Was Diamond really in love with him? Or was she just . . . playing a part. He kept having this nagging feeling that there was a part being played. She was holding back something.

She was hugging Ayumi and making as if she was about to say goodbye when Ayumi looked at Jack, then back at Diamond and said, "No no Dididoo! We must play together. Come here! Play with me!"

Jack started. What was Ayumi saying?

"No no buzzyhun," Diamond was saying back. "Jack won't care. I'm not good enough!"

"Oh Ber Uth Er," groaned the dark elven girl. "You're going to play Diamond, or you're going to get your feet frozen to the ground, got it?"

"Sapphire!" Diamond began to object.

"Play!" snapped Sapphire. She pulled out a white wand and held it up threateningly.

Diamond looked at Jack. "It won't sound good, you'll still . . . like me?"

"Play," said Jack softly. "How ever it sounds, I'll still love you."

Diamond walked over to the keyboard, Ayumi got up on the upper keys and Diamond was on the lower. Ayumi began to play something melodic and Diamond, with a little fear in her eyes, began to gently accompany her. It was a timid little melody at first but as Ayumi kept looking at Diamond and smiling and as Jack kept watching Diamond play, she got more and more into the music and she began to shut her eyes. Then she was playing more and more confidently and Ayumi was now accompanying her and the melody became grand and glorious and Diamond lifted her head and tilted it back and her mouth fell slightly open and the piano was singing. Four hands were flying across the keys and Sapphire began to play her guitar to the melody that Diamond was leading with and for a few glorious moments, some of the most beautiful music Jack had ever heard drifted across the sidewalk in front of the theater.

Something in the back of his mind said to him that he had heard of a great pianist before. Someone who knew how to play . . . but it hadn't been a fairy . . . she was something else . . . but? He couldn't remember.

Suddenly it was over and the crowd was applauding and Diamond was blushing furiously, her grey skin taking on a very vivid purple hue. Money was flying into the tip jar. Sapphire and Ayumi were grinning at each other.

"You deserve some of the tip money," said Sapphire reaching into the jar while looking at Diamond.

"On the house," replied Diamond. "I'm not working for tips tonight . . . I have . . . Jack." She looked at him with a certain trepidation and hope in her face.

"You play beautifully," he said. "Diamond? Every time I see you. You just get more beautiful!"

"Aw," went the collected mass of the crowd.

And Jack was blushing furiously. Then Diamond was hugging the stuffings out of him.

"When's the wedding!" cried Ayumi. "When's the . . . CAKE!"

Diamond was giggling and looking kind of hopefully at Jack.

"I have so many things I have to do before I can get married," he said. "There's college to attend in the fall . . . but maybe, in the spring when I'm done." He looked at Diamond. And sort of as a joke, and yet, now that he was thinking about it, sort of seriously, "Can you wait until then?"

"YES!" she cried. "Oh Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!"

"I haven't exactly proposed, Diamond. We barely know each other. I mean what if you discover I've got creeping leprosy and I discover you have a wooden leg?"

Diamond threw one of her long grey legs into Jack's chest and he instinctively grabbed it.

"Does this look wooden to you, boy?" she said with a saucy grin. Her balance was perfect in spite of the fact that she had one leg up to the level of her waist.

"Whoa!" gasped Jack. Suddenly a very sensual side of Diamond had just popped out of her. This girl suddenly wasn't a shy fawn any more, she was more a tiger. A tiger who was looking to wrestle with a lion. "Hey girl," he continued. "I'm not a football team."

"Doesn't matter," quipped Ayumi. "She'd still win."

Jack let go of her leg and she crooked it first, and remained for another second standing on her other single leg. Then she slammed it down with an audible stamp.

"Owned," she said. She was grinning. Then her expression became soft. "I understand Jack. You have to realize. No one has ever even thought about marrying me. You, you didn't throw it out as absurd. You told me, I was worth thinking about."

"Well," he said. "You are you know. I'd propose we go steady right now but . . . I've got some . . . complications."

"Ariel?" asked Diamond.

"You . . . you know?"

"I know her," replied Diamond. "Everyone knows Ariel." she added. She had realized that if Jack knew Ariel had been working at Scuzzbuckets, that might clue him into where she knew Ariel. "She's been talking about how . . . exciting you are . . . that's her code for someone she wants to get into bed with." Diamond's expression became somewhat fretful.

It struck Jack as if she was terrified of telling him this, but at the same time, wanted to tell him the truth. "Telling the truth is scary for her," he thought.

"Oh Jack be careful. She wants to sleep with you. But she'll just dump you for the next exciting thing that comes along. She does that to all the guys. She's dumped Daniel, and she'll dump Patrick and . . ."

"Who's Patrick?" asked Jack.

"You didn't know?" said Ayumi. "She didn't tell you? She started going steady with him today?"

"What!"

Sapphire nodded. "Patrick works here at the theater. He was all excited about how he had finally gotten her to commit. We tried to warn him, but he's convinced he's the right guy for her and he'll persuade her."

Jack wanted to stagger for a moment.

"No way! No way! I have spend the last two weeks taking her out, dating her, trying to show her how great we would be together and she's just playing me?"

"No no no!" explained Diamond. "Jack she just doesn't know what she wants. She's not wanting to hurt anyone . . . really. She's a nice girl . . . but she just can't make up her mind on what's important for her."

"Well I sure the frabbit aren't important to her."

"You're . . you're important to me, Jack," said Diamond softly.

Jack looked at the gaze Diamond was giving him. He was. He really was important to her. How in the blazes did this happen? Then he remembered. Ariel had run off to throw up during the festival and he had been frustrated that she would not commit and then he had wondered, wouldn't it be to his advantage to not be attached . . . just . . . in . . . case . . . something . . . better? had come along?

It was almost as if some invisible hand was guiding the entire affair. Something . . . out there . . . was leading him to his point.

Well he'd show Ariel. There was Diamond. She was standing there. He could take her back to the house boat. She would come. He could hold her hand and take her down the stairs. She would follow, her little elven heart going pit a pat, as she would say. He would show her his double bed. She would say, "oh yes, Jack" and there would be falling fluttering hearts and harp strings.

No.

No that was not how he was going to do that. Not with Diamond.

That was Ariel. Fast to bed and fast to vanish.

No, he would do that thing his Grandfather had told him about. Back in the days when you didn't woo hoo until you had said 'I do' under the arch and the hearts had fluttered down around the kissing groom and bride.

He would court her. They would hold hands. They would kiss. They would go to movies together. And even if circumstances warranted that she move in, it would be a separate bedroom with a separate door and separate baths. Not now, his house boat was too small. But he would sell that double bed and replace it with a very nice single. Yes, he wanted Diamond. He wanted her badly. She was ready to commit. But he had been anxious to commit with Ariel and had discovered she was . . . faithless. Oh yes she was a nice girl but did she have any idea how much it HURT to be second fiddle in the woo hoo game?

It was getting late. He had to work tomorrow. But frabbit, he didn't want to leave Diamond just yet.

"Can I walk you home?" he asked.

"Jack? It's kind of a long walk," she said.

"I don't care," he said.

"No Jack," she said. "How much sleep did you get Monday night?"

"Well I . . ."

"I love you Jack," she said. "And your health is important to me. As is your job. I'm not going to be the little slinky minx . . . much . . . when it's getting late and you have to work in the morning.

"Aw," sighed Ayumi.

"I'll be doing magic tricks tomorrow night. I can sleep all morning," she said.

Ayumi and Sapphire raised an eyebrow or two, and then nodded to each other.

"But you have to get up."

"But Diamond . . ."

"Don't but Diamond me," she said smiling sweetly. She was suddenly sounding matronly.

"Can we at least walk a couple of blocks?" He asked. "I have one last thing I want to ask you before we call it a night."

"Okay," she said.

Hand in hand, they walked across the park from the theater towards the library. As they walked on, Diamond kept snuggling up to Jack and rubbing her head upon his shoulder.

"Her timing had better be impeccable," observed Sapphire. "Or our sweet little stripper is going to have a very broken heart."

"Uh! huh!" agreed Ayumi.


	7. Chapter 7 - Summer's End

**Summer's End**

Rochelle was busy combing her hair. She was making sure it fell behind her ears. Her father had been human. But her mother had been a Dark Elf. She had not inherited her mother's skin color. Nor her magical abilities. But she had inherited her emerald eyes and pointed ears. She was young, she looked elven, and for that reason she was very popular on stage. Almost as popular as Diamond. But she lacked Diamond's experience. Diamond had already been dancing for over a year before Rochelle had started.

She had just celebrated her teen age birthday. She had started High School. And then her mother had started a kitchen fire trying to cook something new and her father had been unable to put it out. The coroner examined the bodies afterwards and determined that her father had died trying to protect her mother from the flames. She still cried about it some times. Her father had been so brave. And her mother had been so loving.

She had been a take charge kind of girl. She had gotten the kitchen repaired, and the bills paid. But there was no money coming in and she was getting desperate. Her parent's house was too big and expensive to maintain on any teen part time work and she could not bear the thought of leaving all those wonderful memories. And so with no other apparent option she had come into the club at the beginning of fall. She had hung at the door, in agonizing indecision, and Rosa was just finishing her set and knew that look of quiet desperation. She had seen it oh so many times.

She had seen Rosa approach. She wanted to run, she wanted to stay. And then Rosa had said, "You have no money, you have no food. And to woo hoo for it is so horrible that you're willing to risk total humiliation."

Rochelle had nodded in the affirmative.

"I understand," Rosa had assured her as flickering bats had flitted by the corners of Rochelle's eyes. "And I can help. But first I need your arm."

Rochelle had given it. She had felt the bite. She had felt a little woozy afterwards. "Come," said Rosa. "Let's make you prettier than you ever thought you could be for the stage."

Two hours later she strode out on that stage, a bit juiced just to ease the stage fright, and embarrassment at the thought of being pixeled in less that ten minutes. It was a simple enough routine. She was made up very nicely, and had exactly thirty six balloons gently glued to her body.

"Easiest costume to work with," Rosa had said.

"Piece of cake," assured Cocoa.

"You'll do fine honey," whispered Diamond.

"Just don't look where they go 'pop' and you'll hardly notice," sang Gabrelle.

In her hand, adorned with a lace fingerless glove of deep red, was a stick of incense burning. She walked from one end of the stage to the other as the music played, concentrating on remembering to put a little swagger in her step. The pumps were way higher than she had ever worn and she was afraid she'd fall down. She counted four times as Rosa had instructed her. Then she popped a ballon with the lit incense stick. It had been quite the pop too. There was some cheering. That made her feel . . . she wasn't sure if she should smile or blush. She counted twenty four beats while walking. She popped the next one. Twenty four pop, twenty four pop, over and over again. And of course she screwed it up. She was supposed to work from the top down, from the back to the front saving two balloons on top and one below for the finale. But in her nervousness she had worked from the bottom up and ran out of balloons below her waist before she had even started working around her front. It was even more mortifying than she had originally thought because of course what was supposed to be saved for last was in the open air for a full five minutes. But she finished the last balloon. And then concentrating on maintaining her smile she worked up and down the stage for another stanza, collected a few tips from the guys while missing most of the rest, and then got behind the curtain and grabbed that thick bathrobe Rosa was holding and held it tightly around her for the next hour. She refused to look down for the next two full days.

"It will be easier the next time," assured Rosa.

"You'll not even notice in the end," added Cocoa.

"You really were pretty up there," said Diamond. "I've been where you are now, honey. Don't worry, we'll take care of you."

And they had. She'd come in, do homework until her set. Finish her homework, maybe sleep for a bit in a soft couch kept for such emergencies, and then slip home after her last set.

Bounder had never asked for an ID, but Rosa handled that as well. And they were right. It had gotten easier. And once, it had even gotten way more than just fun.

The football team had gotten in with fake ID's. And Rochelle knew just who they were, and their jersey numbers. She never missed a game when she had a night off.

"Cheerleader outfit and pom poms" she said. "Who's got one."

"Here we go!" Gabrielle had sung. "For our little High School Cheerleader."

It was a genuine outfit from the High School girl's locker room.

"Don't ask," suggested Gabrielle. "Some things even dancers mustn't know."

The high school theme song blared over the speakers and out she came chanting "Rock on Thirty Six, go Peter! Rock on Twenty Two, go Johnny!" It wasn't a made up cheer. She knew all the routines the cheerleaders at the games used. And she was going to use them too. As many as the music allowed.

She named every last one of them and their jersey numbers leaping across the stage in one direction while her outfit started flying in the exact opposite one. Gabrielle and Diamond were peaking though cracks in the curtains and exchanging grins while watching the football team break out into serious sweating and hot flashes. Times like this made it almost worth while.

Rochelle finished in her sneakers and pom poms. Some times she even pretended she was covering herself with them. Holding both up top while forgetting to cover below for example. One of the classic tease maneuvers taught to her by Rosa. Most of the football team had dashed off blushing furiously. But a few of the more courageous ones had stayed because they could have sworn they had seen a girl just like her in class and they really wanted to see her. All of her. For this classmate was way hotter than anything they had ever seen among their girlfriends.

And it was all over the Islands High School next day.

And there she was walking down the hallway from her locker in her black smeary nerdy glasses, thick frumpy sweater, baggy draggy blue jeans, and hair sort of hanging in a facade of brushed. There was even a new pimple right next to her left nostril, big and red. And for the rest of the day she walked from class to class grinning ear to ear as the rumor mill flew. A handful of guys with superior perception were staring at her going 'whoa' but the rest were shaking their heads because they couldn't believe such a frumpy mouse had turned on the entire football team. She even managed to look uncertain and frightened when the Principle called her in. He looked at her once and concluded that no, this girl could not have possibly been the stripper that she was rumored to be. And Bounder's records clearly showed that he had no girls working for him that even had the police's suspicion of being underaged. She even tried out for the cheerleader team a week later. They told her she didn't have enough athletic ability and one girl even taunted her that she wasn't pretty enough. She then decided to have her revenge on the whole squadron. So for the final game, as the team was getting ready to run through the banner while all the real cheerleaders were lined up in front, she walked by them once again in that cheerleader outfit and pom poms, fully staged made up, that sexy swagger in her step, and then around the corner and out of the stadium and back to a shed where she switched out her clothing and scrubbed her face before coming back to watch the game. The rest of the cheer leader squadron was steaming because all the football players could talk about the next day, was that hot mysterious stripper classmate, who had come back to cheer them on for their last game in her own really hot and bothering way. Who was she? No one was certain. But that had made her all the more enticing.

Illusion, it was all about illusion. And Rosa was the master of it. She had been dancing a very long time.

Rochelle looked at herself in the mirror. Her life couldn't get any crazier she concluded. But at least she wasn't walking the streets and she was saving money. She was getting enough that she'd be able to go to college after graduation. That would end her career on stage. She wouldn't miss it. She was more than certain of that. But she would miss her friends here.

Diamond came waltzing in humming a pop song about love forever.

"How was your date?" she asked.

"Wonderful!" sighed Diamond twirling around hugging herself tightly.

"Was he good in bed?" asked Cocoa.

"You asked that last time," observed Diamond.

"Well?"

"We held hands!" sighed Diamond.

"No way," groaned Cocoa. "Stop being the tease Di, you're not on stage and we're not tipping."

"And then we kissed oh so gently . . ." she mused sitting down and pulling out her eye liner and rogue.

"And?"

"He Said He Loved Me! Then we went to the theater and watched Aymui and Sapphire jam. And then he walked me part way home and we kissed again!" She twirled once in her chair throwing her hands up and tilting her head back.

"Diamond," asked Rochelle. "You've done it, right?"

"Well yes," replied Diamond.

"So when did you do it last night."

"Oh I didn't do it last night," answered Diamond. "He's being such a romantic gentleman about it. I just don't want to spoil the courtship."

"But you've done it with Jack right?" continued Rochelle.

Diamond shook her head. "No no honey. Not with Jack. Jack is . . . too special."

"Huh?" went both Rochelle and Cocoa.

"You gotta do it with them," argued Rochelle. "If you don't they'll dump you for someone that will."

Diamond shook her head. "Jack is different." she said.

"No frabbin way!" snapped Cocoa. "He's a guy. He wants woo hoo. The best you can hope for is to get them so hooked on your style that they stay around long enough that they get too old to want to do it with anyone."

"He's different!" snapped Diamond. "I just know!"

"Oh come on!" argued Cocoa, raising her voice just a notch. "How can you be so frabbin stupid Di to think that Jack is anything other than another jerk who just happens to be keeping his pants up a little longer than most."

"I can see he's holding back," retorted Diamond. "I don't know why he's holding back. But he is. And it's really making it romantic to be with him. I can't wait to see him again! I want to marry him, Cocoa. I've seen no one like him in my entire life!"

"Raised voices," sang Gabrielle flitting in. "Let's be HAPPY!" And she threw about some fairy dust that put a nice scent into the room and sheathed the claws. "Now," she said. "What's the problem?"

"Diamond says Jack isn't sleeping with her because he's the gentleman," groaned Cocoa.

"And is that so odd?" asked Rosa walking in.

"Well yes," snorted Cocoa.

"It wasn't so odd back when I first started dancing," answered Rosa. "We women were smarter back in those days. We made the men work and bleed before we would give them woo hoo."

"When did you start dancing, Rosa?" asked Rochelle.

"I danced my first dance right after I became a teen ager," mused Rosa. "I had not turned yet and it was not unusual to start when you became a teen. They are more uptight these days about those things. Not letting your peers grow up and get spines, Rochelle. That's why you are so much more mature than they are. You had to grow up."

"What was it like, Rosa?" she continued.

"There was no television in those days," mused Rosa. "And radio was just starting. We were in the poor man's theater. There would be a comic, or an acrobat, or a stage magician. Then a chorus line of pretty girls. And then I'd come out to a whole band. There would be trumpets or bugles, saxophones or clarinets. Sometimes, all of them. The drums would beat and you would hear a whole auditorium of a thousand men whistling. They worshipped us in those days. We were bigger than life. We all were Goddesses."

"And you didn't even take everything off," mused Cocoa shaking her head in amazement. "Or so you keep insisting."

"Oh, a few of us would," replied Rosa with a little wicked grin that flashed a hint of fang. "Or so they thought. A bit of bandaid colored just right? A little bit of faux fur? They never knew the difference. We were so far up and away the back rows needed theater binoculars to see more of us than just a little inch high figurine."

"But we had to have talent if we wanted to get anywhere. And some of us did. There were movie stars who started by dancing in little next to nothings. One of us became a celebrated author. Another wrote comedy for the first TV shows. And one even starred in her own talking heads show." she sighed. "But we also had a joke in those days. What do you need the most to be a really great stripper? The answer of course was, no talent."

She looked nostalgic and sad. "They are all gone now. Gypsy, Anne, Lilly, Blaze, Dixie, Tempest . . . All gone. All that is left . . . is Rosa." She turned to Diamond. "So darling. If your man is a gentleman, then you need to let him be a gentleman. And instead of feeding his woo hoo appetite, feed his hunger appetite."

"What?"

"Cook him a meal, darling. Show him that your giving is more versatile."

"So the next time I'm free, I take him . . . where? I live in a rabbit hole!" cried Diamond.

"Darling," intruded Rosa. "He has a lunch break . . . no?"

Diamond's eyes widened. "Yes!" she exclaimed. "And I'm always up by lunch hour! I . . . I can see him every day at lunch!"

Rosa smiled.

"Every day! I can see him every day! Oh! Oh! Oh!" Then another panicked look crossed her face. "But what do I make him? I don't cook that much. All I can make is . . . Peanut Butter!"

"Then give him that," she replied.

"But what if?"

"You worry too much darling. You are too afraid. You must give him what you can give him and let nature handle the rest."

* * *

Trey was busy with paper work, sitting at his desk at the front of the paper's office. He was examining a collection of Enrico's photos from a recent boating accident. He was looking for ways to crop them right when he felt himself being watched very closely. He looked up. A dark elf woman who looked incredibly familiar, not to mention somewhat cute, was standing before him holding a tupperware box. He wasn't sure but he could almost swear . . .

"Yes, Trey," said Diamond in a low voice. "I have my clothes on."

"Di? Diamond?" gasped Trey. "What are you doing here? I mean um . . . if Ojeda found out I had seen you a couple of times . . ."

"Try nearly one hundred, Trey. You are very good at hiding your secret life but you can't hide it from the chief eye witnesses. But tell you what. My lips are sealed if your lips are sealed."

"Deal. Um . . . so what are you doing here, Diamond? I mean . . . golly. You look so . . . ordinary."

"Yes, I do. And that's why you will not tell Jack what I do for a living if you want to stay not green and not have a very prodigious appetite for flies, moths, and grasshoppers."

"Yeah, I got that. But what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to give Jack his lunch. We're dating."

"Dating?" gasped Trey. "When did that happen? He's supposed to be seeing Ayumi Dragonfly, the stage magician.

"Yes, he is," agreed Diamond moving with the rhythm of the lie.

"So I'm supposed to let him know Ayumi is here?"

"No, you're supposed to tell me when he get's off work for lunch break so I can meet him just outside the towers."

"He's um, very . . . wow Diamond . . . some guys have all the luck . . ."

"Thanks Trey. Jack?"

"Ah, I know! He's always kind of random in his lunch. But this is what I can do," he picked up his phone and texted. "Jack, come down for lunch, there's a neat person you just have to meet."

After a second Trey's phone buzzed and the message was "OMW."

Diamond's palms were sweaty. There was a sour taste in her mouth. And then Jack came around the corner saying "So who's . . ." and then stopped.

"Hi Jack," she said. "I . . . I made you lunch. Want to come over to the park and eat it?"

"I am so jealous," sighed Trey.

"I'm hearing that a lot," chuckled Jack. "Diamond, this is so . . . wow! I . . . no one has ever done that for me before."

She was positively beaming.

"Let's go to the park then," said Jack. He held out his arm and she latched on and turned her head to mouth a silent 'Thank you" to Trey. Then she turned to look at Jack with the most worshipful gaze Trey had ever seen a woman posses for a guy as the two of them headed for the main doors out to the street and across to the park.

"Wow!" mused Trey. "She not just dating him, she's totally in love with him. Oh man . . . how are we going to keep this mum? Going to have to feel Enrico out so that some . . . photos . . . don't materialize."

Jack was simply thrilled. There was this very cute elven girl with the really neat pointed ears who didn't just dance incredibly, who didn't just play the piano incredibly. She had actually taken the time out of her schedule to make him lunch. He sat down on the grass in the park near the concession stands of the summer festival and watched her open the tupperware container and take out sandwiches . . . PEANUT BUTTER!"

"No way!" he cried out.

A look of panic crossed her face. "I'm . . . I'm sorry Jack I didn't know what you . . ."

"Di, you silly girl. Peanut Butter is my favorite. Really you made my favorite lunch, my favorite meal! How did you know?"

"I did?"

"Yes! You did!"

"You . . . You're not just saying that are you?"

"Gimme!" he said snatching the top one and plowing into it.

She knew he was not faking eating that sandwich. He finished it and took the second and likewise wolfed it down. There was no longer any doubt in her mind. Peanut Butter really was his favorite.

"And the strawberry jelly is perfect. Of course any jelly works with me but . . . but you made it and it's just delicious because of it."

Tears began to fall down her cheeks. It was as if everything clicked. It was all she really felt confidant making and it had been his favorite!

"Any more?" he asked.

"I only made two," she said, wiping her cheeks.

"Diamond you silly girl what are you crying for?"

"You make me so happy, Jack. I had no idea but it's . . . it's like we're supposed to be together, don't you think?"

"Yeah," he sighed. He helped her up and they walked over to a park bench where he sat down, and she snuggled up beside him. He put his arm around her and she rested her head on his shoulder.

"How long your lunch break?" she asked.

"I've got another fifteen minutes. We can sit here."

"I'd like that a lot. Want me to make you more sandwiches tomorrow?"

"Yeah Diamond. That would be so cool. No girl ever cared enough to find out what I liked and then make it for me."

A text message buzz came over his phone. He picked it up.

"Sorry Jack," it was from Ariel. "I'm really tied up for Leisure Day. I'm so sorry 'cause you're such a fun date. One of these days we'll click again. I just know it. Your lover, Ariel."

"What are you doing Leisure Day?" He asked.

"Nothing. It's one of the very few days we all have off."

"Let's take my houseboat out to one of the small islands and have a picnic. We can then snorkel. Bring your swimsuit."

"Oh Jack, that will be so much fun. Yes."

"One last summer fling before fall," he sighed. "And I guess it will be with you. And I'm kind of glad."

She looked at him, and then lay down upon the bench and rested her head in his lap. He placed his hand upon her cheek and she held it there with both of hers. When she wasn't kissing it. And when he wasn't running his fingers over the edges of her ears, feeling lines to the point of them.

But from behind them and to the left, Ariel had noticed the nuzzling.

"Oh how romantic they've gotten," she sighed to herself. "Oh Diamond you are falling so much in love. It's really gonna hurt, girl. Gonna hate doing that to you because you're so sweet. But . . . there's time yet for some bits of happiness. Patrick is staying interesting for the moment. I really don't have to make my move yet. But Jack. When I blow a man a kiss, he stays kissed. And he always comes back for more."

She smiled and walked on. Yes, it would be exciting then. Very exciting.

For the next two days, as summer rushed towards Leisure Day she brought him lunch. She made sure it was a different flavor jelly each day. He would eat, three, sometimes four sandwiches, and then he would sit on the bench and she would rest her head in his lap and he would caress her ears and feel the tips of them. At first, it was just nice and snuggly. But on the third afternoon, she began to realize that it was really starting to turn her on. Jack had no idea she was fantasizing about the two of them for the last five minutes. Though he did wonder what she was humming about. At least he assumed it was humming.

"Jamoo!" she thought to herself as she headed to the club later that afternoon. "I really have to watch myself before I embarrass him, or me! It's public!"

Rosa was busy showing the girls a couple of tricks with feathered boas when Diamond walked in.

"So," began Cocoa, throwing the boa around the front of her neck and looking out over the feathers with a sultry pose. "Have you wrestled him into the bushes yet?"

"Maybe," suggested Diamond. "Do my dreams count?"

"No," groaned Cocoa blowing several feathers away from her mouth. "This has got to be the most BORING affair I've ever seen in my entire life!" She handed the boa back to Rosa.

"I just don't get it," sighed Rochelle. "He's just not acting like any guy I know."

"I'm going on his houseboat tomorrow for Leisure Day," began Diamond. She pulled out her make up and hit the mirror lights so her face would be almost washed out white from the brilliant light. "And he's invited me to snorkel with him. So what sort of swimsuit do I wear?"

"Finally he makes his move!" proclaimed Cocoa. "Di? You don't bring a swim suit, you just take off your clothes and claim you come from a culture that skinny dips . Or better yet, tell him you would prefer to skinny dip because he's really the sort of guy that makes you want to take your cloths off and keep 'em off."

"That's Ariel's trick," observed Gabrielle. "And it would remind him too much of her."

"No! I can't do that!" cried Diamond. "What ever I do I have to do something that will make him think of me when he sees it again." She began to work on the base, covering all her imperfections with a cake makeup which would blend into her regular skin as she worked with it.

"I'd make like a mermaid and be topless," suggested Rochelle. "At least to start with, and maybe a sarong that would wrap around your hips and billow nicely for a very brief peek up until it get's wet and then clings to you so that there's no question about how nice your body is under that skirt. And if it's tied up with a bow, one pull from him and you're good to go."

"No no no no no!" began Gabrielle waving her hands. "Ariel's tricks! Ariel's tricks! Ariel's tricks! On stage, she won't strip-tease, she's too shy, but when she's alone with a man her body confidence is more than sufficient to pull him in. You want an ordinary, little sexy yes, but ordinary bikini or one piece Diamond. You must not remind him of Ariel, he might fantasize about her instead of you!"

"Gabbi!" groaned Cocoa. "Not you too!"

"No Gabrielle is on the right track," mused Rosa. "But Rochelle hit on an idea. We want exotic, but exotic as in different, fantasy as in far away. Diamond? I know just the sort of 'suit' you will wear tomorrow. It will pull him in and yet convey a sense of mystery."

* * *

The house boat was putting across the water and Jack was at the wheel. Diamond was leaning against the railing looking out when she wasn't looking at Jack. Rosa had known just what was needed for them. Jack had been smiling and talking and piloting the whole time. They had talked about his book, his going to college, his career at the paper. And all the while Jack kept telling Diamond how beautiful she was. She had come in a beach robe and had removed it once they had gotten underway. And underneath that beach robe was a sarong, something akin to what Rochelle had said. It was bright red, and billowy. But it wrapped around the neck and fell to the knees. Jack seemed totally pleased with it. He did not know about the complete absence of anything underneath that sarong, and once it got wet, it would be rather clingy. But nothing would be seen since the fabric was completely opaque. And the garment could not be removed particularly easily either. It was, in short, what appeared to be a very modest girl's beach wear for the day, where the vavoom would not show up until it got wet. And then the mystery would only be augmented by a handful of clues.

The island he picked was almost exclusively sand, but he had a portable grill and card table. He carried these to the island and he grilled hot dogs on the beach. They then walked the entire circumference of the island. Then, later in the afternoon, they donned masks, flippers, and snorkels and began to explore the shallow waters around the islands. Diamond found a nice shell but she would not keep it. It was too special and she was going to give it to a dear friend. Then the sun began to set and they began to feel the sun's soporific upon them. He sat upon the outdoor bamboo bench and she lay upon his lap and he began to caress her ears and her ear tips. He closed his eyes for a moment or two. Then when he opened them up again in the twilight he discovered that her clingy sarong was getting a little more detailed in the front. There were two very precisely centered little bumps.

"Diamond?" he said quietly.

"Uh huh?" was her soft, kind of cute answer. It was a higher pitch than usual. And there was a kind of girlish innocence to the tone.

"Is this turning you on?"

"Uh huh?"

"Should I stop?"

"Nuh uh."

"Are you hoping this leads to something a bit more passionate tonight?

"Uh huh?"

"After the fireworks?"

"Uh huh?"

He began to chuckle. Had she passionately whispered something along the lines of "Oh yes, Jack." Had she moaned something along the lines of "Can you see where I want you to touch me, Jack?" He probably would have had a very hard time refusing her suggestion. But she wasn't Ariel. She was Diamond. She wasn't responding to her arousal by whispers and moans, she was getting silly and girly.

Instead, he stopped caressing her ear tips, and lifted her face to look at him. Almost immediately she latched on and gave him a few moments of very passionate kisses. But as he kept his hands under control, she settled down and sleepily looked up at him.

"Fireworks," he said.

He piloted the boat closer to the big Island. He aimed so they could sit upon the bench and watch the fireworks go off. She snuggled up against his shoulder and shortly afterwards the entire sky lit up with the celebrations. Sometime near the end of it, her leaded head told him she had fallen asleep. He picked her up and carried her down to his bed. She woke up partially through it and whispered, "I'm really looking forward to sleeping with you."

He lay her in his bed. She hummed happily for a moment. He tucked her in. Then went back up stairs and slept upon the couch. It was a nice long blue couch and easily fit his entire frame. So he slept comfortably too. But Diamond would wake up and know he had given her the best, tomorrow morning.


	8. Chapter 8 - Thunderstorms In Autumn

**Thunderstorms In Autumn**

"Woo" "Ah" "Squeal" went the haunted house.

"Ah!" "No!" "Jack!" "Eee!" went Diamond in response.

So when they exited the haunted house, she was clinging tightly to Jack and breathing heavily.

"Oh!" she gasped. "That was so scary. Jump scare after jump scare."

"Even when I told you it was going to happen right there and you said 'I know it's obvious' 'Woo!' 'Oh Jack!' and your fingernails dig into my arm one more time. I swear you punctured the skin a dozen times, girl." He chucked. "Do you sharpen those fingernails before you bake that red enamel on them? Are you using them as concealed weapons?"

"I can't help it," she whined. "I scare easy." She looked at him for a moment. There was something haunted in her gaze. "There's so many scary things, Jack. So many bad things that can get you."

"Diamond, hey, why are you so scared, girl."

"Horrible horrible bad things, Jack." she looked furtively past him, towards the pumpkin patch where the scarecrow stood, his scarf waving gently in the breeze.

The bad things. It was a phrase he was hearing from her more often, now that they were seeing each other every lunch break. She'd bring peanut butter most of the time but once she gave him a couple of pancakes smeared in apple jam. They were good too. Then she had brought him . . . a salad. He ate it. He smiled because she had brought it to him. She noted his face, and he hadn't seen that again. But every so often, she would reference 'the bad things' or 'the bad thing'. He could not get her to describe it in other than the words 'horrible' and 'awful'. He was beginning to wonder if she herself could define what it was that she was afraid of.

He looked up at the trees. The palms and magnolias remained green and healthy, but the oaks, maples, and aspens were all in their fall colors. Not many leaves had fallen yet. There would be another four weeks of fall before winter came. He was starting to think about college. He still needed a bit more money because he was only just now finally getting the houseboat settled in. One thing left to do. Switch out the double bed for a two singles. Then he would invite Diamond over and offer to let her move in. She was still in a rabbit hole. And she only had one free night each week. Tonight was the night. And he hated waiting. There were so many things to do, and only one night each week he could do them with her. He could get some more time with her. She always was dressing nicely for lunch. There were loose flowing skirts which settled at the knees, billowy blouses, a vest on occasion. Tonight's date was the first time since back in the earlier summer when he had seen a little of the sexy back in her outfit.

He had invited her to the fall festival and when they had met, it was clear she was playing the witch to the full vamp. Her shoes were pointed. Then half way up her thighs there were red and white ruffles that he swore were a foot thick all around. They was covered with a thin black skirt which was embellished with big red bows. Her top was tight at the waist, mostly black until you go to the white v in the front where the buttons all red, ran down to the skirt. There were billowy sleeves and a pair of lacy fingerless gloves, and a little witch hat on top. She wasn't in a pony tail, rather her hair was in that side part which fell over the sides of her face and ended at the shoulders straight. That was, for some reason or other, the style she looked prettiest in. It was also the style which, when she looked at him in a certain fashion, had a very prominent, yes my darling I very much want to sleep with you tonight quality.

And that was the crazy thing about it. He had yet to see Diamond in anything more revealing than her vest mini-skirt combo from their first summer meeting. But every so often she would look at him in such a fashion as to suggest that there was something simply awesome under that fabric she was wearing. Ariel had looked for the most sexy and exciting moment to lose her swimming suit. But while Ariel saw her body as something to be shown because it would make things more 'exciting,' Diamond wanted him to see her, because she loved him.

And because she loved him, she wanted the romance he was giving her. And because she wanted the romance he was giving her, she was waiting. So even though she had a really sexy edge in that witch's outfit she was wearing, he knew she would not be looking for some place where he and she could go and be alone together, some place where she would 'lose it.' And he really was appreciating that, because it was making the courtship go much easier. He was really getting to know her. And what's more, he kept seeing new things about her which surprised, or astounded, or just plain thrilled him. More and more of her personality was coming to the fore as she grew more and more confident with him. She wasn't just a cute little grey elf in a tight mini-skirt who really knew how to dance. She was Diamond Gemstone, soul mate, partner in imagination, musician, and really fun date, who had a sense of humor that popped out without warning, and some of the coolest friends he had ever discovered.

"I'm going to do something special for lunch this week," she said. "So I need us to go over to the pumpkin patch now."

"Okay," he said. They walked over and she began to look at the pumpkins. She scanned the ground, her front teeth sucking on her lower lip; her index finger on her upper lip as she scanned. He just looked at her and though about how sweet her face looked, and . . . and how much he really was falling in love with her. He began to think of college, and the thought of being without her for weeks at a time. He realized he didn't want to do that. He did not want to be without her at all. It was hard enough having to work through to lunch, spend those few brief moments together, under an awning more often than not now that the fall rains were coming. Then the idea came to him. And it was one that really would work. It would solve everything. And if the new novel sold, he'd had more than enough money to do it as well. He felt a tingle and thrill and had to shake his arms to settle the adrenaline.

Diamond suddenly stood up with a pumpkin. She kind of held it forward with a 'see'? expression. Then she suddenly turned to the side, flipped the pumpkin so that the stem top rested on her belly while the bottom dimple was perfectly centered, and then leaned a little back. She looked at him with a very serious expression and said, "Jack? There's something . . . rather important we need to talk about. About us."

And suddenly he realized she was using the pumpkin to make it seem like she was pregnant. He roared with laughter. She was smiling. He took the pumpkin and they started to walk over to the theater. Ayumi was doing card tricks on the sidewalk in front. There were tourists about, some in sweaters, others in heavy flannel shirts. Ayumi saw the two of them and lit up. She suddenly set a group of cards into a flight of birds. And then pulled a wand out of her ear. Jack walked up and dropped a 100 simoleon note into her tip jar. She saw it and for an instant a look of incredible gratitude crossed her face. But Diamond looked so proudly at Jack he started wishing he could have afforded to stick a 500 note in.

Ayumi then transformed the wand into a rose. She gave it to Jack.

"For your pretty little girlfriend," she said.

"Diamond?" asked Jack turning to Diamond and offering her the flower. "Will you be my girlfriend like Ayumi said?"

The look on Diamond's face nearly overwhelmed Jack. It was as if she wanted to cry and laugh at the same time. Tears began to dribble down her cheeks as she took the rose and gently sniffed it. Then with a cry of "Pon Chee!" she leaped into his arms.

"I guess this means yes," he gasped. He kept thinking of her as just a little grey elf. He really was surprised by how much she seemed to weigh. But she really was as tall as he was. And he knew that. He just had not seen such an excited reaction coming.

"Uh huh?"

He just held her for another moment trying to avoid blushing from all the 'aren't they the CUTEST couple' looks the tourists were giving them. Then he let her down and just looked at her. Once again he couldn't help but just look into that quiet sweet grey skinned face, and the white brows that hovered gently above those big eyes with the bright red irises she had, colored in the reddest rogue he had ever seen.

"I've got big plans for us now Diamond," he said. "Very big plans."

"What Jack, oh what?"

He grinned.

"Jack! What?"

He continued to grin. "It's going to be a very big surprise too," he said.

"I don wanna wait I wanna know now," she cried jumping up and down.

"You'll just have to wait," he said. "But you can tell all your friends that you are now going steady."

"Oh I will! I will! I will! They will be so jealous!" she jabbered. "Hardly any of them have had real boyfriends before! It's so seldom when you're a . . . Oh! Jack! I can't wait to tell them!"

He walked her to their designated goodbye spot. She kissed him and kissed him and kissed him some more for good measure. Then she hopped on her broom with her pumpkin and hummed off into the night.

The next day at lunch was peanut butter. She was still working on her project. But for once it wasn't raining and so they settled on the park bench and Diamond kept promising him really hot kisses if he would tell her what the secret was. And he joked and held back. He knew why he was holding back. He had to make sure he had the money first. Beldin Moon was taking longer than he had planned because he had to keep turning out articles for the paper. But lunch hour was over and there was nothing more she could do, so she set off down the hill for the straights, apparently that was the way to her place of work, and he turned and walked towards the towers.

As he opened the door he almost bumped into Ariel.

"Oh, hi," he said.

"Hi lover," she said with a very saucy wink.

"Hey Ariel, um,"

"Oh Jack, I heard. You're going steady with Diamond. She's told everyone. You've really made her happy. So I'm so glad for you."

There was a curious tone in her voice. Almost as if she didn't mean it. It could be because she was kicking herself for 'missing the boat' and stringing him along. It could mean that she was just a little sad they would no longer be dating. But he didn't pay it any more mind. Though he did wonder why she had called him lover, as if it wasn't over with yet.

"I've . . . um . . . broken up with Patrick. So I'm kind of free myself. Rather ironic don't you think? I'm single, and you know? Kind of ready to commit with someone special if I get the chance. And 'poof' the one guy that I knew wanted to, already taken by Diamond. Clever girl she is. And you know me, probably find a boyfriend soon enough. But . . . should something . . . horrible happen . . . you know? Call me 'cause I'll be free for the time being."

Jack nodded. "Okay Ariel. It's nice to know there's no hard feelings between us."

"Yeah," she said. She seemed really happy about that.

"So . . . why were you here?"

"Didn't you know? I'm taking writing lessons. Writing is sounding exciting these days. You can create stories and make stuff dramatic. Drama is always gets the heart pumping. Always very exhilarating. Almost a very sexy turn on. The sort that makes you think of . . . little pink bikinis?"

"Yeah," chuckled Jack. "Drama is life with all the dull bits cut out. But I wouldn't use little pink bikini's as imagery. Thunder and lightning are more my style."

"Oh yes," agreed Ariel. "I had no idea how exciting drama could be. Why, right now, thinking about the prospects, my heart is really pounding. But you do remember the little pink g-string bikini. Don't you?"

"Oh man, Ariel. Quit being the tease, girl. I'm a taken man now."

Oh you're no fun," she sighed somewhat seductively. "Okay, I'll be good. No more talk about summer afternoons pixeled in your houseboat. I hope you have a very wonderful afternoon."

She started to saunter off and watched him over her shoulder. He watched her go and noted there was a rather feminine sway in her step. Her hips had a little snap to them."

"She just has to be a come on," he sighed. "And if I didn't have Diamond, she'd have me so hooked."

He walked in and there were Trey and Enrico.

"Hey man!" started Enrico, "There's this seriously crazy stunt going to be starting in the Islands and we like gotta be seriously ready." He waved his camera for emphasis.

"Trey?" asked Jack.

"Movie Producer, fellow by the name of Peterson? Heard of him?"

"Of course," replied Jack. "Big open vistas with massive computer generated armies, that sort of thing. Did that epic last year. What's with this?"

"Coming to the Islands man!" began Enrico. "Going to do some really hot cop show where they break up a slave trading ring and there will be gun fights and explosions and all sorts of drama. And we're um, we're going to have to do some interviews and photos in Scuzzbucket's probably."

"No way," snapped Jack. "You guys know I won't go in there."

"Man man man you don't understand . . . it's gonna be mandatory, just wait. So we're kind of giving you a heads up before it has to happen."

"And why would it have to happen?" argued Jack back.

Trey and Enrico looked at each other.

"The slave ring which is being broken up is a white slavery ring," began Trey. "And so they will want really sexy young girls playing a lot of the extras in the background."

"And they'll recruit from the Scuzz," continued Enrico. "If you're going to have the big bad dude sitting in his living room throwing the party for his minions and you need slinky girls wiggling all the right parts, the quickest way to get them is with strippers."

"Oh right, you mean there are not young actresses capable?"

"They would have to spend hours training actresses to come up with the right moves," added Trey. "And while you might not believe it, some of them really don't want to act that badly."

"So a bunch of them won't go pixeled for those special angle shots which don't show nothing but leave no doubt they're wearing nothing," added Enrico.

"So why go through all that recruitment and interviews and training and makeup when you can get ten girls already to go," explained Trey.

"For man, like non-union wages."

"And that's not slavery right there?"

"Yeah man, but it's legal."

"That doesn't make it right."

"We're not here to tell 'em if it's right or wrong," continued Trey. "If you want to write up the recruitment as an exposé, if you want to cover the girls being 'used' for this film. Hey! It might just shake things up and make the world a better place and all that. But we're going to have to go to where the source is."

"I don't like this," growled Jack.

"Dude," continued Enrico. "That's why we're letting you know, like, in advance."

"How much in advance."

"Probably a few weeks."

"They will want to shoot it in the summer here, when the tropic is the most prominent," finished Trey. "But they'll start showing up next week to get a feel for the place so while we may not have them poking around the Scuzz in the next week or so, they will be interviewing there by Spooky Day."

All the while Jack, Enrico, and Trey were walking into Jack's cubicle. There was a new manilla folder laying on top of his lap top.

"So why would they want the Scuzz anyway?" continued Jack. "There have got to be some clubs in Starlight Shores."

"Yeah but everyone knows the best are in the Scuzz," said Enrico.

"The best?"

"Jack, Bounder is the owner but he doesn't really run the place. So long as he's got a few strippers for woo hoo and a steady flow of simols he does not care what Rosa does.

"And who is Rosa?"

"She's the head stripper, dude. She was, like there when they first started stripping back in the days of real bands and stuff. From what I hear, she saw them invent computers. So she knows all the tricks from all the way back and she teaches the dancers to use them. It's . . . it's almost like a big Lucky Palms show, only the girls are all pixeled and not just a topless."

"And so Scuzz dancers are always first pick because the film industry always picks the best," added Trey.

"Really?" asked Jack reaching to flip the folder open.

"Yeah, man, you never know when you're going to see a Scuzz dancer, they pop up on TV, movies, You Tubes . . ."

Jack was staring at the first photograph. Trey and Enrico both knew what he was seeing.

"Oh man Oh man Oh man!" stammered Enrico. "I like spoke too soon."

The first photo was of Diamond on the stage. She was in a long white gown which was split up the side to nearly half way up the hip. And above that were a row of dainty black buttons. A couple of the buttons were undone and she had what looked to be simol bill or two tucked into the garter belt. Then the next photo had more buttons undone.

"Enrico!" snapped Trey. "Those weren't supposed to be public!"

"I didn't do it man. I swear I didn't do it. Those never left my tower in my office, man. I know the score!"

Jack wanted to stop, but he couldn't. It was as if something was compelling him to look at every last shot. The buttons from the top were undone, it was half hanging off of her, and then the next shot was just a single button holding the dress at the waist. Then she was twirling the dress above her head by her fingers, her garter stuffed with bills. And then another one with her long grey leg just off the catwalk and onto a small shoulder where drinks were being kept while a guy was stuffing yet another bill into her garter.

"Right Enrico!" Trey was shouting. "You knew it had to be kept mum! Who paid you!"

"Man! I didn't print those shots! That's not my paper man! I don't use that company's paper! I kept them in my camera or tower! You think I would do that to her? She loves the Dude man! She really loves the Dude! Everyone was talking about it there. Gabrielle, Rochelle, Cocoa especially, with her garner frash pool when they'd woo hoo."

"Why don't you shut up while you're still ahead!" cried Trey.

"Had to be hacked man. My computer had to be hacked. O'Doole, that private detective. I bet he did it man, getting dirt on Diamond. That's what happened man! He hacked my computer from the library terminal!"

Jack was sitting down. It was as if someone had planted a heavy boot hard into his heart.

"Jack, man, ya gotta believe me, man. Don't do something stupid, man. She loves you, man. She'd die for you. Don't do it, man."

"Frabbit! Get out!"

Trey and Enrico left.

Diamond was a stripper. She wasn't a shy fawn. It was all an act. And she had lied to him. How much? He wasn't sure.

He picked up his phone and texted her. The message was short and to the point.

"Photos on my desk told me what you really are. You lied to me. I think it best we never see each other again."

He sent the text, and removed her number from his phone record. Then he threw the photos into the trash bin and tried to work the rest of the afternoon. He was feeling rotten. He was feeling like his life had just been torn into pieces.

While in the Scuzz, a certain young grey elven dancer was bawling her head off in the throes of grief while Rochelle and Gabrielle held her tight and tried their best to console her.


	9. Chapter 9 - There For You

**There For You**

Diamond walked down the stairs from the stage on a Tuesday night in the later part of the fall. There had been some scattered applause. But her work was just now beginning to bounce back. She had managed some smiles and a few slick moves but she knew she had not fully recovered. She did not bother putting her robe on. She put the laundry basket holding her last costume by her locker and sat pixeled upon the couch leaning her head back and closing her eyes. Cocoa had just sauntered out. After her would come Rochelle.

Rochelle was ready for her set, in her mini-skirt, button down blouse, and school blazer. Her hair was done up and tucked under a school uniform beret. She looked back at Diamond.

"You smiled nicely tonight. Pity it's such a quiet crowd," she offered.

"It's not their fault," sighed Diamond. "I'm still not really ready to give it back to them.

"Diamond," continued Rochelle. "You sort of adopted me as your daughter, and I've always liked it because you have my mom's skin, hair, and her smile. And I've kind of depended upon you when it's getting really scary, like the time that guy got up on stage and started for me. And . . . I know he broke your heart. But it's been almost two weeks now and he's still with Ariel. Maybe it wasn't meant to be."

"No," sighed Diamond. "It wasn't. It was a beautiful dream which couldn't last. I just wish it had gone on a little longer."

"Diamond? The longer it was going to go, the more you would have cried," observed Rochelle.

Diamond's chin began to quiver.

"Oh oh oh oh I'm sorry," Rochelle said as she ran over and gave Diamond another hug while Diamond had another little spasm of grief.

"He told me he loved me every day," she sniffled. "He told me I was beautiful every day. Why couldn't it be real? Why couldn't it have lasted? Why oh why did he have to find out."

"He had to find out sooner or later," sighed Rochelle. "We're all liars here, Di. And love is built on trust. I see that in school. The moment he lies to her, it's over. The moment she lies to him, it's over. The moment we have to lie to them, we start killing the love."

"You're so lucky," sighed Diamond. "You'll graduate from High School, and you won't have to lie to the teachers and principle about what you really do when you're not at home. You won't have to lie to the police any more. You'll be able to go to college and get a degree, be a nurse, teacher, or maybe even a lawyer. You're smart. You do math. You'll go places and we'll just be a memory of a sad time in your life. But I won't be able to go. This is all I ever will be good for."

"I don't believe that Diamond," said Rochelle looking into her eyes. "You're my friend, you're practically my mom now! I'll never think of being with you as sad. It's one of the few things right now that I like. You can't be that stupid."

"Yes I can," she sighed. "I fell in love with a guy in the paper who's now a weatherman. He's on TV and radio reporting it. Enrico is taking pictures of him. He's starting to be a celebrity. I would have only held him back. Simquirer Headlines . . . Stripper Girlfriend of Jack Fearthegn." She smiled slightly.

"Hey, maybe you'll meet a really cool actor when they start filming that movie next spring," suggested Rochelle. "You know the producers will be coming in here to check us out. No one dances hotter than a girl in Scuzz and Diamond, you really know how to work 'em when you're in the mood."

The crowd's cheering was starting to be heard over the steady beat of the DJ's song selection.

"Cocoa's working them up for you," said Diamond. "You ready?"

Rochelle nodded. "Kinda nervous, first time with this costume and patter. Playing school girl when I really am . . . someone might call Child Abuse . . . again."

"I'll be right behind you," whispered Diamond. "In that special place we have together."

Rochelle smiled and walked to the stairs. The music reached it's climax and then Cocoa came down the stairs with her costume in her laundry basket and her basket on her head. "You're on," she said to Rochelle. "And Diamond's idea of a laundry basket is really great. Get one tomorrow."

"And now," said the DJ. "We have a special treat. She's come from her boarding school to write a term paper on the performance arts. Please welcome . . . ROCHELLE!"

Rochelle dashed up the stairs and they could hear her patter of footsteps upon the wood of the stage and a nice volume of applause.

"Teenage face on? Good. Talk to them, set it up," whispered Diamond. Cocoa watched and nodded as she put away her costume. She knew what Diamond was doing.

"I know what you're thinking," began Rochelle's patter though the back. It was a bit distorted because the hanging mic was in front and the echo had to go through the curtains and mirrored wall. But it was clear enough to hear. "You think I really am a school girl? Nah. Just because I look like one? Nah. We'd never do that here. That would be . . . against the law!"

There was a little nervous titter in the audience. Rochelle was very much looking like a teenager, even with the makeup and elevated platform shoes. It helped that her hips were not as wide and her waist was not as narrow in contrast.

"This is just my costume. I mean . . . well yeah . . . I kind of have a smaller frame than the other girls here. But I've always been kind of small . . . Except where it counts . . . So don't worry. The police won't raid because a school girl is on the stage . . . doing a report."

There was laughter over that.

"No really, I'm in college. I'm majoring in the physical sciences. I'm a . . . sorority girl . . . I've even done the football team . . . All of them . . . Took a few minutes but when I put my mind to something . . . "

She paused as there was more chuckles from the audience.

"And you think because I'm just kind of acting . . . like a kid . . . I am one? Well . . . I GUESS I'D BETTER ACT LIKE A BIG GIRL THEN!"

And the music blared out.

"Strut down the cat walk hon. Let them know you can move. Throw the hat to the back, Remember where it is, you want to cover your breasts with it later for another bit of tease," whispered Diamond. "Walk back up the catwalk. Swing the hips, open the jacket and twirl. You're doing good girl. I just know. Now, pull out the barrette and let the hair fall . . . that's right it's all fallen down around your shoulders now . . . so pretty . . . one, two, three, four, turn, one, two, three, four, canvas the stage . . . see any tippers. There's one, he may even be kind of cute . . . don't get to close, you don't want his fingers on your leg . . . that's right. Don't forget to smile, especially if he's a nice guy . . . like Jack . . . *sniffle* . . . sorry Rochelle . . . I . . . okay, now, off with the jacket. Quick discard, you're only doing it because you're hot and want to be a little cooler. It's all just perfectly innocent . . . give them that smile . . . wink . . . let 'em know it's not innocent at all. Swing it back and forth . . . and? Toss!"

A jacket flew onto the upper stairs.

"How do you do it, Diamond?" asked Cocoa. "You just know where she's at."

Diamond smiled. "I hear you were with Ariel in Jack's new houseboat, Sunday."

"Yeah, it was a cool party. Ariel was kind of nice to invite me. But Jack wasn't that happy," continued Cocoa.

"Jack likes you," suggested Diamond. "There had to be another reason."

"There was Diamond. Ariel was flirting with Enrico. And sat down with him on the couch, so that Enrico was between her and Jack. And then she was also flirting with Paul Robel. Jack was really getting upset."

Diamond closed her eyes.

"Diamond?" continued Cocoa. "He's still got your picture on the wall by his office desk upstairs. That one where you and he posed for that fall greeting card. I saw it when I was poking around. Where you're in that little witch costume?"

Diamond began to weep again.

"Diamond!" growled Cocoa. "It's not yet over! Frabbit girl. Ariel's about to give him the toss I just know it. You can still hope."

"He's never returned my calls," sobbed Diamond. "I don't even think he has my number any more." And she looked at Cocoa. "And you were convinced he was just keeping his pants up a little longer."

"I never said he wouldn't prefer your style for the rest of his life frabbit. Di? Yeah, it's all about woo hoo and if you want to love him anyway, what ever makes you happy. And you were happy all the time with him. It was in everything you did! You gotta quit giving up when . . ."

"He spent all last night drinking in Get Funky's," observed Gabrielle flitting in. "Ayumi tried to cheer him up a little. He was so blue. A fight broke out and he didn't even notice."

"Did . . . did he mention me?" asked Diamond.

"She only said hi and asked him if she could cheer him up and he said . . . no . . . she wasn't . . . her."

"Her?"

"It was 'Thanks Ayumi, but you're not her.' and then he took another drink and just stared ahead."

"Maybe Ariel gave him the dump yesterday," mused Cocoa.

"He's grieving for her then," sighed Diamond. "If I had been . . . her . . . he would have called me."

"Don't be so sure," suggested Rosa walking in. She paused. "Rochelle is really doing well . . . she's got them all in the palm of her hand."

The skirt had just landed on top of the jacket by the stairs.

"You think that if Jack really cared for you he would call the moment Ariel threw him out?"

"He said he . . ."

"He also said you were a liar," added Rosa.

"But that was true, I did lie to him. I lied to him just about every day."

"And you think that's not bothering him? That he called you a liar? You think he might not feel that you hate him?"

Diamond just stared at her for a moment.

"You said he said you were beautiful," observed Rosa. "He said it every day. Men do not say that if they don't think it's true. Beautiful women usually have guys waiting in a line. Even . . . strippers. And in some parts of Simtopia . . . especially so. And Ariel certainly seems to have them. Why would he not think you already were in the hands of some politician or . . . movie producer? One of his agents is already out there scoping Rochelle's act. He will likely show up with Bounder. We're going to have to be careful. She really can't afford to be involved in this film because there will be too many questions asked regarding her schooling issues."

Diamond, Cocoa, and Gabrielle nodded.

"You will prepare her so that when I speak to her she will already be ready to agree to my advice."

"You can count on us," said Cocoa.

The crowd's responses were heating up. The shirt had landed on top of the pile.

"We won't have much time," mused Rosa. "I can feel that Rochelle is very much warming up to the responses. She's starting to have fun. And that means she will impress him, and that gives us . . . maybe five minutes before Bounder shows up."

"No pressure," sighed Diamond. Her smart phone was receiving a text message.

"Don't worry," snorted Cocoa. "He's a movie scout. He knows there are all sorts of girls who'll do just about anything to 'be in the pictures.' And he's taken advantage of that. They all do. Point him out Rosa. I'll move in, play the part, and he'll learn how the werewolf does it doggie style. It'll be hours before he gets to Bounder. The club just might even be closed."

Diamond got up off the couch, exhaled, scratched an itchy part of her leg and walked over to her locker and opened it and took the phone out. "It's from Ariel," she sighed. She read the message. Her eyes widened and she began to tremble. She looked at Gabrielle

"What do I do?" she asked in a breathless whisper.

"What does it say, dear?" asked Gabrielle.

Diamond was already tearing up. She handed the phone to Gabrielle.

"Broke up with Jack yesterday afternoon. Hard. Kind of on purpose. Will explain some day. He probably does not care that you're a stripper any more."

"What does it mean?" Diamond was terrified her hopes were about to be dashed. Gabrielle knew just what to say.

"It means he needs you . . . now," she said.

"Gotta get dressed gotta get dressed!" Diamond cried rapidly grabbing her outfit and trying to hop into it. "Oh oh oh why do things that come off so fast take so long to get on!"

As if to emphasis the point, Rochelle's thong landed on the pile.

Diamond looked anxiously at the girls as she continued to force her body into clothes.

"Gastroenteritis!" she cried. "I'm throwing up all over the place."

"Got it," said Cocoa.

"The curtains, the couch, the rug! And it's messed the shower towels!" sang Gabrielle throwing out some fairy dust which seemed to add a rotten acid smell to the room.

"Don't just stand there, close the windows, turn off the bathroom vent, blow out the scented candle, and seal up the perfumes. We only have a few moments of sweating performer bodies smelling up the place to make the claim believable," suggested Rosa already reaching for the window shutters.

Diamond, fully dressed, dashed out of the employee entrance, while the other three women starting mucking up the place so Bounder would not want to come in with the Producer's scout. It also solved Rosa's concerns about Rochelle being asked, "how'd you like to be in pictures?"

On stage, Rochelle turned and tossed the beret behind the curtain and faced the audience in a coy pose. She was down to her frilly white socks and bra. She sometimes tossed the thong or g-string first remembering her first screw up performance. A stage ritual. Every performer had at least one. The crowd had kind of liked the switch and she had noted it. Rosa had told her it was a clever innovation, and not often done. It made her act stand out a bit more. It also suggested she wasn't as shy as a teen would normally be. It was all part of the act. She was smiling, but between her teeth she was whispering, "Tell him the truth, Diamond. Tell him the truth."

* * *

Jack was sitting on the long blue couch in his nicer, larger, houseboat. In front of him on the wall was his mounted wide screen TV. There was a very nice oriental rug in front of the couch. The floor was a nicely laid parquet wood. There were wide bay windows which opened up the views of the ocean, the shoreline, and the mists in the distance. Outside the wind was starting to blow. Another rainstorm was coming up. The radio was playing pop music. The TV was off. He was feeling blue. He had given Ariel a chance. And it had turned out just like everyone had told him it would.

"None of the guys are looking cute any more and it's ALL YOUR FAULT!" she had shouted the afternoon prior. "You're the only one that looks at all nice to me and that means I'm stuck with you for the rest of my live and I WON'T HAVE THAT!"

It totally stunned him.

"It means she loved you and hated it," sighed Ojeda. She had intervened because his weather report that evening clearly showed he was in a great deal of emotional pain. It was always a good business decision to help the best employees get through the rough spots. It was a long hard training curve to get the best to be the best. Once they were there, you did what you could to help them stay there. "You did it Jack. You were such a nice boyfriend that she really fell in love with you and that meant she should settle down. Faced with that reality, she cut and ran and did it in such a fashion that she hopes you hate her for a very long time."

"That's . . . that's so crazy," he groaned.

"You've always made good decisions Jack," continued Ojeda. "But we're always stuck with limited options. And sometimes, things are not what they really seem to be."

"Tell me about it," he snorted.

There was a scattering of rain. It was about to start, and the door bell rang. He got up and headed over. "Come in out of the rain," he said opening the door. Then he stopped and gasped a breath of cool autumn air.

Diamond was standing there, trembling, and almost in tears. She was in the shortest mini-skirt he had ever seen. It had a thick silver belt at the top. There was a tight red vest with black collar. There was a silver necklace around her neck and a rhinestone bracelet which glittered on her right wrist. It was all leg from the hem which barely covered the top of her thighs down to her silvered pumps, broken only by a sequined garter on her left thigh.

"It's me Jack, your stripper girlfriend, in all her regalia."

"Diamond, I . . ." he didn't know what to say. He didn't know how to respond. But she was off like a shot, apparently explaining.

"You're the sweetest guy I ever knew. You were a gentleman. And I'm no fool. I understand why you did what you did. I lied to you. And I lied because you were such a nice guy I knew you were smart enough to avoid girls like me. Yeah . . . Cocoa . . . she's the tramp. No one argues that . . ."

Her tears were running down her cheeks.

" . . . and there's one or two or three of them in every club. It's a stock performer we have and Bounder loves them all, daily when he can. But Rosa? Yeah, she's hard. But it's all she's ever known and she remembers when it wasn't as bad. And she's good Jack, she's good and she cares about us. She knows it's a rotten business and she does everything she can to keep it as safe and tolerable as it can be. We don't have to let the patrons touch us. We're on a stage. She's even gotten Bounder to knock on the dressing room door and wait for us to open it. And she won't let any other guy in until he knows what she'll do to him if he tries any funny stuff. It's the best we can hope for. And she knows tricks. She knows moves. She teaches us. She makes it almost classy. We're the best of the best. It brings in the audience and we make more money in tips. Not just minimum wage. And every so often, one of us is able to be a model. In a real magazine! Or an actress! And one girl even got to be the girlfriend of a Senator! And Gabrielle? She . . . she just likes seeing the guys smile. She wants to believe that out there in the audience, some guy is lonely and has a chance to see a pretty girl, probably for the only time in his life. And Rochelle . . . she's got no one and it's the only way she can stay in the house her mom and dad raised her in. They're . . . they're dead Jack and she has no other way to get through High School . . . and when she finishes she'll have enough to go to College and she won't have to do it any more. She'll be free."

And then Diamond burst into a full cry.

"And I'm TOO STUPID to be able to do anything else!"

Jack tried to say something but the words were caught on his tongue and Diamond, now stuttering while she wept, was pressing on.

"But . . . but with you I could dream. I could dream of something even I could do. I'm made to have babies. I'm a girl. I can . . . I can be a mother . . . I've even mothered Rochelle . . . she needs me . . . And if I can be a mother . . . I can be a wife . . . I don't have . . . to do math . . . you can take care of the money . . . I can make peanut butter for you? I can dress so nice for you . . . and Jack . . . I can . . . I can be so sexy and . . . I could be a wife and mother and love you the rest of my life and I wouldn't have to feel those UGLY FILTHY fingers on me . . . grabbing me when I need the tip money. I could have gotten out . . . I was going to tell you . . . but . . . but someone told you first and I NEARLY DIED!"

"Diamond . . . I . . . I didn't know," Jack reached out to express sympathy but she interpreted it as an invitation to be hugged and nearly tackled him, holding on as tightly as she could while she continued to cry.

And he realized it was the best failed reading of body language that had ever happened to him. Suddenly, he felt warm again. Suddenly he felt really loved again. Suddenly, it was as if a missing piece of the puzzle, a missing piece of his life was back in place.

He exhaled. "Of the stupid situations I've ever been in," he thought. "Of all the decisions which I have ever made that turned out to be dumb. This has got to be the craziest, smartest, most brilliant dumb stupid thing, that ever happened to me. How can something so stupid turn out to be so smart?"

He just held her. The music on the radio kept playing. He found they were starting to sway just a little, and then one of those songs, the sort that really go well with a slow dance, began to play with the humming of violins. And he was slow dancing her to the music, just like they did the first time they had been together in the disco. It was a song Jack had always liked, but he had not realized how important it was until now. And as Bryan Rice sang on the radio, he began to gently guide Diamond through the song. And her dancer body began to float though his gaze, fluid poetry in the ripples of sight.

 _With no one to hold on till you hit the ground,_  
 _Searching for some place to run to._  
 _You fell out of existence you got lost in the crowd,_  
 _Always your back against the wall._

He suddenly realized. He was in his own story. It wasn't Beldin on the River Karen. There was not an evil witch in the north seeking to destroy the world. He was not hacking his way through enemies trying to get to the princess before her heart was pulled out and squeezed upon the altar to the dark demons. But he had the chance now to rescue a girl, who very much needed rescuing.

 _I'll turn your life around into something good._  
 _Don't face this world alone,_  
 _Cause I'm there for you my love,_  
 _You'll find me in the mirror waiting for you,_  
 _Oh baby, hold on, we'll make it._

She started to look at him. She started to smile. He began to see the hope blossom in her eyes.

"I can be the hero!" he thought. "I can really be the hero!"

The storyteller, was living his very own story. The author, was writing the book of his very own life.

It was if she had been made for this very moment, this very purpose. To connect with him forever.

 _You cover the bruises the best way you can,_  
 _Hiding your flaws in the dark,_  
 _Desperately seeking to understand,_  
 _Why everything's falling apart._

 _But don't you worry now I'll do anything to pull you out,_  
 _I'll turn your life around into something good._

"I . . . love you Diamond," he whispered. "I never really stopped loving you. I was such a stupid man."  
She threw her head back and lost herself in the dance and the music. Her mouth was a little open and he remembered that goofy overbite she had.

 _Don't face this world alone,_  
 _Cause I'm there for you my love,_  
 _You'll find me in the mirror waiting for you,_  
 _Oh baby, hold on, we'll make it._

 _I'll turn your life around,_  
 _Yeah._

 _Don't face this world alone,_  
 _Cause I'm there for you my love,_  
 _You'll find me in the mirror waiting for you,_  
 _Oh baby, hold on, we'll make it._

The song ended with the violins as it had begun. Then a commercial started.

"Oh, why did that radio station have to spoil the mood," he groaned to himself.

Diamond's head was on she shoulder. She was warm, she was relaxed.

"Let's talk," he said.

She looked up at him.

"Okay, I guess this means you're giving up stripping?"

"No Jack," she replied.

"What?" He had not expected that. But he looked in her face and saw the fear again. She was screwing up her courage for some reason. He had to listen this time. He had to give her the chance to explain. And he had to make it as easy for her as he could. So he continued to gently hold her and look as lovingly into her face as he could.

"I give up dancing at Skuzz? I won't be able to get back in. There are a hundred girls who would kill for a chance to dance in Skuzz. We're really that good. Rosa knows how to make the club as dancer friendly as she can and we all want to dance there. Then I'll have to go to Bridgeport and it's lap dances, and couch dances, and mattress dances for tips 'cause they don't pay us. And I have to pay stage fees and I get worn out and haggard and I turn ugly and then . . . I'm only good for walking the streets."

"You won't need to go back, Di," he argued. "I will be taking care of you."

"You . . . already broke up with me once. If you had come in screaming at me, hitting me, throwing me to the floor and demanding I give it up when you found out? I would have done so. I would have held on to your kicking feet and begged you to forgive me and not leave me because I would have known you really loved me and were not going to leave me. But you sent me a text and that was it. And I could not cry and explain. You didn't even keep my number."

Jack waited, hoping that something good was going to come out of this.

"Your girlfriend is going to be a stripper, Jack. Your fiancé is going to be a stripper, Jack. But when the hearts fall from the arch and I have your wedding ring on my finger? You will have a housewife. Who will do her best to be a mother of your children. Only then Jack. Only then when I know the bad things won't separate us, will I give it up."

"And that's why you never rush to decisions," sighed Jack to himself. "Enrico was right. 'Don't do it man,' he said. I should have listened. But . . . this is the price I pay for rash action."

It was a stupid decision she was making. But she had made so many already. But in the midst of her stupid, she had a certain street wise savvy. She wasn't going to lose the best she had without a solid guarantee that something better was coming along. She was being cunning, but she also was being cautious. It was a bit of wisdom in a very twisted circumstance.

He could feel her trembling in his hands. He could see the terror in her eyes. She was making what she thought was the best decision she could make. And it had taken her so much to get this far. She knew he could say no. She knew he could apologize and break it off for the sake of his career and up and coming celebrity status. She knew he would be dumb to risk undue scandal. And she was terrified he'd do it. But he couldn't let her down. No, that would be so stupid. He had to be the hero now. There were just a few more monsters he was going to have to slay. But it's never that easy. Otherwise you wouldn't be the hero.

He smiled. She began to breath excitedly, in short little gasps.

"I guess you're my girlfriend again," he said.

"PON CHEE!" she cried as she leaped into his arms.

He was ready for it that time. He knew this was what she would do. And that knowledge . . . really was kind of neat. Ariel could always surprise him, often rudely, with her twists and turns. But Diamond. Once you knew her, you understood her. She could still surprise you, but there was always that certainty about some things just because she loved doing them so much.

He just held her as she held on to him. Gently swaying back and forth with her. She was still wimpering a little. But now it was because she had made it through. They were going to be together again. Then he looked into the full length mirror he had by the door. The one where he would check to make sure he wasn't off in anyway. It saved time at the office before the weather report.

Her mini-skirt really was way to short for her present posture. But what's more, there was a very thin line of silver material between her legs. Her vest also was hiked up and there was a silver band peaking out from below it in the back.

"Diamond?"

"Uh huh?"

He closed his eyes and struggled not to giggle. He remembered that about her as well. It felt so good to have such familiar sounds again. He knew already what the score was, but he just had to play the game. He loved the way she answered him. It was so cute.

"Are you wearing a stripper costume?"

"Uh huh?"

"And are they designed to come off very fast and easy?"

"Uh huh?"

"And were you hoping that if we got this far, It could be discarded?"

"Uh huh?"

"And then I'd carry you down stairs to the bed room?

"Uh huh?"

"And woo hoo all night?"

"Uh huh?"

"Diamond?"

"Uh huh?"

"Did you like me courting you, the hand holding, the kisses, the dates, the lunches?"

"Uh huh?"

"Do you want that to end?"

"Nuh Uh!"

He gently let her down. But now that she could just be her honest self, with no further need to hide, she pulled a little dancer trick on him. Pressing her hips against his torso as she slid down to the floor, she used the friction to hike the skirt up to her waist all the while holding her arms around his neck and back. A little elastic in the right spot always did that to really short mini-skirts.

And he had a very nice view of a very cute behind defined by a very graceful silver thong. He gently reached up to hold the hem of her skirt, and pulled it down. His fingers slid over her skin. It was a very soft to the touch. When he had finished pulling it back into place, he gave her a little flirtatious pat.

"Fresh," she giggled.

"Yep," sighed Jack. There were going to have to be some ground rules for what was going to happen next. "I'm in love with a stripper."


	10. Chapter 10 - A Home Together

**A Home Together**

Diamond was really walking through the houseboat for the first time. Everything she owned was being put into place. In the hull, below the main deck, was her bedroom. It was a single bed, with a chest of drawers, but the bed was one of the best beds money could buy for a single sleeper. It was a narrow room as well. But that was all that would fit down there. Jack was next door, in a room no bigger. They would be sharing a bath, which had a bathtub and shower, and a nice long countertop with single sink. Lights were set up along the top which illuminated it brightly enough that she would be able to do her base make up prior to leaving for work.

"What do you think?" asked Jack.

"I . . . I have my own room," she sighed.

"That's it?"

"That's all that matters right now." She looked at him.

They stepped out into a small room where the spiral staircase led up to the main deck. Along one side was a wide large mirror with dancer's bar connected at the waist level.

"I thought dancers used poles," began Jack.

Diamond smiled. She found it sweet that Jack was now calling her a dancer and not a stripper. He didn't even call her an exotic dancer. It was just, dancer. It sounded, kind of . . . innocent.

"On stage, in most clubs, yes," she said. "But you don't learn dancing on a pole. You learn it on a bar."

"Can you show me? Or do you um . . ."

She smiled again. House Rule #1, no running around pixeled. No thong's, G-strings, toplessness, she was to be covered at all times with at least a bikini. But he really liked that sarong.

"But don't you want to see me?" She had asked. "I love you Jack, I want you to see me. I want to be able to show myself to the man I love. And maybe kiss you . . . a lot . . . while doing it."

"You know it would seriously turn me on . . ."

"Uh huh?"

Jack rolled his eyes.

"Courtship," he explained. "Is the process where we get to know who each other is, without deliberately tempting each other into woo hoo. But at the same time finding things to do in order to express the fact that we really love each other. I mean, if it had just been woo hoo from the first date, on, would you have started making me your wonderful peanut butter sandwiches?

"I'd have just worked more and more sexy clothing into our dates," she admitted. "Rosa had to tell me to make you lunch. I couldn't understand why you were doing it either. I just liked you doing it."

"You see Diamond," he continued. "I never really found out that much about Ariel. Even after she moved in and we were sleeping together. It was what we did instead."

"Why did you not court her like you were courting me?"

"I really don't understand it myself. I think it was just that we were already doing it and it really was hard to even to attempt to try to start it with her. If I tried something like writing her a little poem, she'd listen, but she would immediately come on or say, "That's sweet of you Jack, but I'm not in the mood."

"You never wrote me a love poem," she observed. She sounded just a little jealous and hurt.

"I wasn't really doing it well enough to even try it," replied Jack. "I only started doing it while I was living with Ariel. But Diamond. You know I will be talking with you about my work. About my stories."

She had liked his answer, but she was going to drop more than a few hints about the love poems.

"The dance bar is something we work with when we're in our sweats," explained Diamond. "It helps us limber up, get our bodies completely under control. I've told Rochelle that I have a bar now. She might come over some Saturday morning and we'll work out together down here. You won't have to worry, we'll be in our frumps."

"Kind of bugs me that Rochelle is still in High School," he sighed.

"But she's really a sweetie Jack, and you have no idea how hard it is for her to have friends."

"But you have to be somewhat outgoing to be any sort of performer, how could she . . ."

"Jack, you have to understand what we're up against. The larger portion of clubbers see us as just things to thrill them. We're a drug they take, and because it's such a superficial high, they have to come again and again and see us differently or see different girls to keep the high going. They use us and throw us away when they were done. We're just disposable for them. And to keep them just a little bit longer, we have to do what ever they demand. If it weren't for the fact that Rosa knows how to keep our acts different and varied, we'd be on poles and in their laps with their hands all over us like at most of the other clubs. Those are not nice boyfriends and a lot of ordinary girls get hurt by those guys because in the end, all girls become disposable to them."

Jack was listening. Jack was learning. "Pay no attention to my browser history," said the meme he had posted on his desk back. "I'm a writer, not a serial killer."

"It takes a really long time before we can be sure this clubber or that clubber, like Trey, are safe and maybe might be a nice boyfriend. But then they have their own problems because they often think we'll reject them and so they don't try or by the time we are ready to accept their advances, they inform us that they're going to be married and this is their last club stop before matrimony. That happened to Gabrielle just last spring. And then, the idea of introducing us to their parents? But in the case of Rochelle, any girl that finds out what she's doing could blab it all over the High School and in come the police and this time maybe it will be a full investigation and they'll discover just how good a fake ID Rochelle has or the girl gets jealous because she can't look as pretty as Rochelle does and starts trolling her in class."

"But you said it's all illusion!"

"They don't know that."

"But after that big flirty hey there to the entire football team, haven't any of them asked her out?"

"Jack? She was in stage costume. Most of them don't believe it was her because when she's in the class room, she's in stage costume there as well."

"Now wait a moment . . ."

"Jack, on the stage, she's a bunch of different things, glamorous model, high school sweet heart, secretary, nurse, hot date at the disco, old fashion bump and grind burlesque star? In school she's a frumpy mouse afraid of her own shadow and with an extremely low body confidence. She deliberately hides behind her gym locker door when she's changing for PE. The girls routinely mock her for it."

"Why would she be so shy?"

"She's acting Jack. It hides what she's doing. They don't believe it could be her that's up there on that stage. Questions are not asked. No one investigates that closely."

"Don't you girls think you're taking this illusion thing a bit too far?"

"If you had known, from the way I was acting, I was a dancer that first time you saw me in Funky's?"

"Ooo touché," sighed Jack. "And that would have been bad."

"It has it's place."

Diamond paused before something else came to her mind. "And how many mothers would become terrified if they found out their precious little daughter was hanging out with a dancer? She might even try it out?"

"But if it's so rotten?"

"Jack, it's not just a drug to the clubbers . . . it's a drug to us as well."

"What? Whoa! How?"

"You have no idea how thrilling it can be to hear a hundred guys screaming out how much they love watching you. You have no idea how much an ego boost it gives. Rochelle had no trouble bumping her way past the football team in front of all those physically fit cheerleaders in their perfect little outfits and beauty salon hair styles with their rich cream clean faces because she knew from a thousand male throats that she was the hottest most exotic most beautiful most divine vision there was. And because she knew that, the football team knew it to. It feeds itself, the more we think we're hot, the more they sweat. The more they sweat, the hotter we feel. Jack . . . when you complemented me on my dancing that first night . . . I really wanted to perform for you, just so I could get that ego boost, just so you could be my lover forever."

"Then why didn't you?" His writer's curiosity was piqued.

"Well for starters it was rather public and someone might have called the police. Even if that hadn't happened you would have blushed and left. I'd never have seen you again. Because you're not that kind of guy. And Jack? That's why I really love you." She sighed. "Of course that only makes me want to do it more."

"Oh pity me," sang Jack. Then he paused. . . "on second thought . . . don't . . . I'm having a hard time not liking that fact that you're having to exercise your will to not throw yourself at me while throwing your blouse and skirt at the mirror. But I suspect every girl really wants to do that with the man she loves."

"Pretty much, just I'll do it better."

Jack began to chuckle, "About that ego of yours."

Diamond was giving him her shy fawn look and gently swinging her shoulders back and forth. It was such a well placed denial of her ego that Jack began to suspect something else.

"That was an act too?" he asked, thinking of the first time they had met.

"This time," she said softly. "I'm really play acting. But then, it was really for real in a very real way. I just remember how it felt and so I can bring it back any time I want. That's what we do. The fact that I love you will probably improve my act on the stage."

"Why?"

"Because I'll be able to pretend you're sitting down there in front and center, and you're my only customer, and I'll dance for you in my mind . . ." her voice was very soft and silky smooth.

Jack looked at her for a moment.

"Diamond? Why are you acting like this?"

She looked him straight in the eye. "Because I lied to you when we first met. I lied about what I did and who I was. And I realized that if I was ever going to have the chance at being with you forever, which was what I want more than anything else in the world. I'd have to be completely honest about who I am and what I am and what I want to become. I'm going to try my best to be very open about what I'm feeling and thinking with you." She paused for a moment. "Rochelle told me that lies kill love. She's a very smart kid. I want the love to grow. So when I want to play act with you, I will, but you'll know I'm play acting. I hope . . . you'll like the fantasy girl on occasion. Because I like to play it with you."

"I like Diamond better," he said.

"But Diamond likes to play act. It's who she is. It's why she pretended to be a princess with a loose head right after Gabbi introduced us. How can you like Diamond without liking Diamond?"

"My head is starting to hurt trying to even think of an appropriate answer for that one," he groaned.

Jack and Diamond went back up the first floor, the main deck. It was a single room, almost the entire length of the hull. There was a small back deck and two narrow side decks where some outdoor benches were at. Jack liked to read in the sun. Past the front door was an area arranged like a living room with his long blue couch, wall mounted TV, Playstation, and nice radio stereo system. Then past that was a dining table which was fitted in the area next to the spiral staircase. Then they had the galley or kitchen. The whole thing was filled with porthole windows or bay windows.

"I'll be able to have my friends over won't I?" she asked.

"Why not?"

"They'll love that. So many of us are in Rabbit Holes." She paused. "Of course we'll have to plan. None of us has the same night off. But we can make plans in advance to spend a late morning here, a girl brunch!" She began to jump up and down with little hops. "And we can do work outs on the bar down stairs . . . and if we do it on Saturday and Sunday, Rochelle can join us."

And then it was up the stairs to the top deck. The back was an open porch with grill and picnic table. There were a few potted plants as well. But the front was completely enclosed with the pilot's wheel in the center with large full wall windows stretching all across the front. They were mostly fogged due to the cool weather. On either side were alcoves in which desks were nestled. One for Diamond and her projects, and one for him. And a long set of book shelves along one wall and two photos.

"Jack!" whimpered Diamond when she saw the first one. She reached out to it and gently brushed her fingers upon its frame. It was them on their date to the Fall Festival, back at the beginning of fall. Their last date before the exposé.

Neither of them knew who had put those files on Jack's desk. Enrico was convinced the local private detective O'Doole had something to do with it, but what could they do in retaliation? Gabrielle was convinced, for some reason or other, Diamond never could figure out why, that Ariel had put the folder there. But Jack argued that someone would have noticed Ariel. She simply stood out too much in her little mini-skirts and yellow jackets during the summer. Now that it was fall, she was walking around in a pink outfit which was a bit warmer.

But what it told Diamond was that Cocoa had been on to something. Jack was beginning to suspect it as well. "You would have thought Ariel would have wanted that photo taken down," he mused. "Or at least objected, and you would have thought I would have removed it. But she never did. She just put her photo next to it and acted as if that was all that was necessary. But I guess something was telling me that . . . you were way more important than I realized."

Diamond smiled and then turned. "Yes, and here's that shot of Ariel, a very posed shot, and dressed for the occasion," she observed. "No wonder she thought you wouldn't have to take mine down."

"Um," Jack coughed. "I was trying out photography and Ariel suggested she could model for me."

It was a very nice full length shot of Ariel standing next to the grass weave wall of the houseboat office, her right hand blowing a kiss, her left hand resting upon her hip. Her legs were just knocked a bit in a flirty pose and she was bereft of her yellow summer outfit, or fall for that matter.

"We really need to put this in an appropriate spot," suggested Diamond picking it off the wall. "Oops!" she said next as it fell into the waste basket. There was the sound of breaking glass. "I guess I dropped it. And now it's all cut and broken and torn. We'll have to replace it. Some day . . . maybe in a few years . . . or not." She paused and looked at Jack with a sweet little flirty expression on her face with a very rapid fluttering of eyes. "Until then you'll be needing some appropriate photos of me there," she suggested.

"After we're married," suggested Jack. "Courtship, remember?"

It was chilly, but they stepped out on the back upper deck porch and looked at the island stretching out before them.

"I'm glad I'll be able to live here," said Jack.

"Me to," she said leaning against him. "But not here."

"What?"

"The mists . . . I'm sure the mists hide an island we can move to, far away, safe from the bad things. When we can. I'll want to find it."

"Di? Darling? What are these bad things?"

"Horrible Ugly Bad Things," she whispered. "We must never let them find us. They'll . . . take us away from each other. They tried already. They'll try again. They never give up."

* * *

Jack woke up in almost pitch darkness. The alarm had not gone off. He was worried. He sat up, stepped off his bed, took a step forward and 'thunk'. He ran into the wall.

"Oh that's right," he sighed. "I've got half the bed room now that . . . Di . . . is living with me. She's probably still sleeping so I'd best be quiet."

He felt around until he found the light switch and turned it on. That was the problem with lower hulls in houseboats. There was no natural light. He noticed that that time was around eight. He was late for work! He frantically started dressing and got to the door and opened it and then heard the sounds of cooking upstairs. And the humming of Diamond. He closed his eyes and sighed. It was Saturday. He had no work today. And tonight, he had something special planned for Diamond. The big surprise he had dreamed of springing on her back at the beginning of fall could now happen.

He went into the bathroom and began the daily routines. He stepped out of the shower and noted that there were even more make up cases and lipsticks and rogues and face powders than he had remembered prior. And hair dryers. Combs and brushes and eh? What was . . . never mind. He hung it back up and made a note to remind her not to forget her costumes in the bathroom. He came up the stairs and could smell pancakes. Lots of them. She was churning them out in bulk. As he looked over she was dressed in sweats with tennis shoes.

"Going to the gym later?" he asked.

"Nuh uh," was her response.

"Just being an ordinary girl today?

"Nuh uh."

"But you're not in your regular clothing, what's up?"

The doorbell rang.

"Would you get that for me, darling?" she asked.

"Okay," he replied. He walked over to the door and opened it.

"Sul sul! Mr. Fearthegn!"

He looked and then lowered his eyes a bit and there was a teen age girl with a sprinkling of freckles just under her very bright green eyes in sweats and sneakers and dark sandy brown hair which hung down to her shoulders smiling at him.

"I'm Diamond's friend? Mabel Plitiskouphski?"

"It's okay honey," called Diamond.

"But Rosa told me never to tell a news man my . . ."

"He understands," called Diamond.

"Oh? Then it's Rochelle."

"Your real name is . . ."

"Yep! Middle name's Rochelle though, it works. I'm really glad you let Diamond move in with you. She's been so happy at work all week. We're even planning a new routine."

"Sounds simply thrilling," deadpanned Jack.

"Oh it will be, you'll see. It's not often we do duets so there will be some rehearsals before we're sure it works. Especially the part with the jack hammers. It might get too loud for the DJ to compensate."

She sauntered in.

"You don't want to know," sighed Jack. "You really don't want to know."

He closed the door.

"Mabel?" he muttered to himself "No wonder she picked Rochelle."

"Pancakes!" cried Rochelle. "With Strawberries?"

"Yeah, just started to learn how to make them. Jack really likes them."

"You still bring him his lunch?"

"Of course, he wouldn't miss that. I can go right into his office now and sit with him."

The doorbell rang. Jack turned around and opened it.

"Hello!" sang a fairy with baby blue wings. She was also in sweats and her hair was a reddish tinge and hung down mostly over one side. He noted she had a slightly larger than normal nose.

"And you are?" began Jack.

"Gabrielle, Mr. Weatherman, and I have a bone to pick with you."

Jack sighed. "I can only predict it, I can't control it."

"I know that!" cried Gabrielle. "It's the predicting that I have an issue with. Very esteemed gentleman with the film crew. Needed some entertainment for investors and your predictions ruined it! There I was, flying out of the kitchen with the cake, wearing only my powdered sugar and it rained! Matted my hair and washed all the sugar off. Not to mention ruining the cake. Ayumi was in tears at the piano! Do you know what it's like being pixeled in cold rain and dripping hair in front of rich investors and Starlight Shores Movie Producers?"

"Sorry, I hope it wasn't too embarrassing!"

"It certainly was! The sprinklers were supposed to wash off the powdered sugar, not the rain! How can I be a cute fluttery pixeled pixie when I can't control how I get pixeled? You really have to be more careful! A girl's career could be RUINED by something like that."

She flittered in.

Jack cautiously looked out the door. Were any more dancers going to show up?

"Come to breakfast darling!" called Diamond. "We're all here."

"I know you said you were going to have friends over Saturday," he observed. "I just had not anticipated it happening so soon."

"What other weekend do we have left this fall?" asked Diamond. She brought the servings of pancakes over to the table. "Winter is coming."

"And snowflake day," sighed Rochelle. Jack noted that depressed her.

"Don't worry honey we're going to have a party this year," said Diamond.

"We are?" asked Jack.

"We most certainly are," decreed Diamond.

"You just moved in and you're already taking over?"

"Mom did that too," observed Rochelle. "But a party would be really neat, Diamond!"

"I'm going to put the tree over there by the stereo," said Diamond pointing to an open spot between the half wall which separated the staircase from the stereo.

"But that's one of the windows we have a nice view out of," objected Jack.

"A Snowflake tree is prettier. And this will be the first time I've been able to have one in my own home," declared Diamond.

Jack was about to open his mouth to object when he heard the words, first, and home. This was going to be a very important time for Diamond. It was time to slay another monster. He sucked in his gut and pushed out his chest and imagined he had just drawn his sword.

"Mr. Fearthegn are you alright?" asked Rochelle.

"He does that every so often honey," explained Diamond. She had no idea why he did it either, but assumed it was one of those inscrutable man things she'd either figure out or stop him from doing eventually.

"Yes silly little quirk," sighed Jack struggling to not be embarrassed.

"Not really Mr. Fearthegn, it's a really sexy move when you're wearing a thin t-shirt. It doesn't even have to be cut high. Of course for the best effect you need to first rub an ice cube on your . . . "

"Diamond I have something special planned for us tonight so don't let me forget it," broke Jack in quickly.

"Yes dear," she said smiling.

"Oh you two are so domestic," chatted Gabrielle.

"So what are you three girls planning on doing this morning?"

"We're going to work out together," said Diamond. "Down at the bar and up there by the stereo. Then we will have to go to work after lunch."

"Oh yeah frabbit," groaned Jack. "I can't wait until evening, you'll be at the club. We're going to have to do it this morning. After breakfast, you can take a little break can you? Gabrielle and Rochelle can play video games while we clear the table for this?"

"Well Jack," began Diamond. "If we don't keep in shape . . ."

"Di, I know how important it is for you to be in top shape, but . . . this is really really really important."

"Not really really really really important?"

"If it isn't, will you stop your workout long enough to do it with me?"

"No," she replied. There was a twinkle in her eye.

"Then it's really really really really really really important."

"Wow . . . that's like important," she gasped holding her hands over her heart.

Rochelle looked at Gabrielle with a baffled look upon her face.

"Pillow talk dear," explained Gabrielle to Rochelle.

"I thought that began with 'was it as good for you as it was for me?' and that was when you lied and said it was great even though you're a little sore and the guy's mouth tasted like the cat had left a dead mouse in it," suggested Rochelle.

"That's a slightly different pillow talk," replied Gabrielle.

"Okay," said Diamond. "What must we do together?"

Jack smiled, walked around to the half wall that separated the spiral staircase from the rest of the living room and pulled out a green bucket with Llama banners in it along with a set of papers. He took out two sets of papers and put one set in front of Diamond, with a pencil, and put the other set on the table next to him. Rochelle immediately gasped because she recognized the forms.

"We're going to college tomorrow, together Di, and this is the aptitude test," said Jack.

"Oh Diamond!" jabbered Rochelle. "Oh Diamond this is so exciting you're going to have to tell me what's it's like I wish I was going with you but I have two more years of High School but oh you are so lucky Jack must love you so much because this is so expensive!"

"Come Rochelle," sang Gabrielle. "Time to play Grand Theft Auto!"

"And mock the dancers for their really cheesy moves?" asked Rochelle.

"Of course dear, it wouldn't be fun if we didn't do that."

Diamond was looking blankly at the form in front of her. She looked back up at Jack. There was uncertainty and indecision in her face. Almost fear. It was as if she didn't know if he was trying to tell her how wonderful she was or if he was mocking her. And the annoying thing was, given her background, she could come to either decision.

"Jack," she began. "I'm stupid. There's no way I could go to college."

By now Jack had come to the realization that Diamond was so firmly convinced of her own mental limitations he would not be able to argue her out of that idea. At least for a considerable length of time, such as a couple of years. Accordingly, he already had a counter argument he knew would work.

"Diamond," he began. "You don't have to be smart to go to College. You only have to have the money."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Wow, then that makes so much sense."

"What makes sense?"

"Our representative in congress. He's just an idiot. And he graduated from college. I never could understand that when I was growing up."

The she started to look sad …

"You call that a costume, you frabbin bitch!" shouted Rochelle from the couch.

"Jack . . . I can't afford to go to college. I need everything I have in case the . . ."

"Diamond, my lovely little grey elven princess," spoke Jack. "I'm taking you. I'm paying your way."

"Jack?" she gasped a sharp breath of air. "You can't possibly . . ."

"Diamond? Can you do math?"

"No!"

"Then how would you know if I could or could not afford it?"

"I don't know I . . . woman's intuition!"

"Try again."

"Oh Jack . . ." she began to look a little weepy. "Do you really think I'm worth it?"

"Think of it as a really expensive date," suggested Jack. "I'm taking you out for a really great date in which I'm going to spend the money on you like water because you're worth it. We'll be in the same dorm and just across the hall. And we'll major in the same subject. Communications."

"But Jack!"

"Diamond? You already have a lot of communication skills down pat. I mean, haven't you told me that you have really great body language skills?"

"Well on stage yeah, but . . . is that taught at college?"

"No," Jack paused. "At least I don't think it's taught by professors . . . frat houses now that I think of it . . . no . . . never mind. The point is that you've got a lot of the stuff they'll be teaching us in college already in your head from your time dancing. You'll do fine. I'll get my degree, you can get a degree with me, and we'll be together. And Bounder won't object to having a college educated dancer I suspect."

"Jack that's right! And I'll have all sorts of new costume ideas . . . walk out in a college graduation gown, and finish by pretending to cover myself with the diploma."

That wasn't what Jack was thinking of but so long as she was going with him, it would be worth it.

"Boring moves! I can't believe they have such boring moves! Let's just kill them and put them out of their misery!" argued Rochelle.

"Darling they're Starlight Shore dancers, you can't expect them to be any better," soothed Gabrielle.

"Then put them in a home for crippled dancers. Geesh, when the typical newbie dances in Scuzz on her first try, she usually does better than this!"

Diamond began to scribble on the form. Jack began to answer his. As he looked up, he noted she was getting more and more excited about the prospect. Apparently she was finding many of the questions answerable. But that didn't surprise him. If there was one thing he knew about Diamond now, it was that she was smarter than she ever suspected.

They finished the forms, and uploaded them into their computer. Shortly thereafter, the report came back. Jack had 24 credits, but Diamond had 18.

"What does that mean?" she asked.

"It means that one of your semesters you'll have to take one more class than me," he answered. "It means you're going to be a classy girl in college."

"I think it means I love you," she said. And then she hugged him.


	11. Chapter 11 - Malan Hall

**Malan Hall**

Diamond stood outside the dorm looking at it with the biggest 'golly gee this looks so serious' expression Jack had ever seen on her. She held her suitcase in front with both hands and just seemed to gently swing back and forth with it. She was in her blue jeans, a bit lower on her hips than Jack had thought was possible, and a thick cotton t-shirt which had insufficient length to reach the belt. She had a cute belly though. Her navel had that perfect sunken quality which, while common enough, requires just the right thin layer of fat over the abdominal muscles to really look soft and feminine. And she had that graceful dimpled lower back which just seemed to scream out "hand holds here, Jack!"

Fortunately Jack had seen it enough by this point that he could enjoy the aesthetics without feeling the need to do something about it. But a couple of times the week before, Diamond had found her self being held very tightly by him and kissed. She had no objections to his advances however. The expressions on her face suggested she might have liked it. Maybe once or twice anyway.

"This is our dorm," he was explaining. "We'll be here for the next two weeks."

"Two whole weeks?" exclaimed Di. "How can Bounder keep my slot open? He hates being a girl short. Especially when it might be one more trophy on his shelf."

"Rosa said she'd handle that, Di," said Jack. "Don't you remember?"

"Oh yeah," recollected Diamond. "As far as Bounder knows, I'm the only dark elf witch that dances anywhere and that is it's own draw. Poor girl . . ."

"Poor girl?"

"He will fill up my slot with a new girl and she'll think she's gotten in and then she'll be booted in two weeks."

"Bounder may take someone else out," suggested Jack.

"Oh please not Rochelle, oh please not Gabrielle," whispered Diamond.

"No prayers for Cocoa?" asked Jack. He found that curious.

"Meh," sighed Diamond.

"Well let's claim our rooms," suggested Jack.

"What's this building called, darling?" she asked.

"Malan Hall," answered Jack.

They walked into the main hallway. To their right was a dining room and beyond that was a kitchen with cheap appliances. To their left was a lounge and beyond that was a study hall. But in front of them a grand staircase rose up to the next floor.

"That's so big!" she gasped. There was a pause, and then a little lilt in her voice. "I've never seen one . . . that big. Woof!" Then she looked at him and said. "But I prefer something not quite as big . . . but bigger where it counts . . . somewhere else."

Took Jack a moment to get it. He started to snigger as he walked up the stairs.

"Diamond? Are you being bad?"

"Uh huh?"

They passed the bathrooms and then Jack opened up a room.

"This is yours," he said. "I had it arranged special."

Diamond walked in. It was a grand room, with couches and chairs, a tall bookshelf, and a big comfortable bed.

"How did I get something so big?"

"I pulled a few strings," explained Jack. "In the form of a very nice donation to the campus for room maintenance. I want you in the best."

"Can I see your room?"

"Sure but it's not . . ."

"I wanna see I wanna see I wanna see!"

"Okay okay," he said.

He led her across to the other side of the floor and opened up his room. It was somewhat nice, but there were two singles, some rather cheap bookshelves, and a few simple chairs. It did have a nice fireplace though. Also was a young fellow of african cast with a button up shirt, v-neck sweater, and a pile of electronics around his feet.

"Oh hi!" he said. "Tiberius Willard, technology major. From Pleasant View, and you are?"

"Jack Fearthegn, Communications major, from the Islands."

"The Islands? I've read about them. That's supposed to be the only place where mermaids are common."

"Pretty much," replied Jack.

"Are they as cute as they're supposed to be."

"Well I've only seen one, her name was Minnow. She hung out with my first g . . . friend, Ariel, a couple of afternoons. She was a teen ager, but she wasn't bad looking in the face. Those scaly legs take some getting used to though."

"And who's this?" asked Tiberius. He could tell Diamond was in some fashion connected with Jack.

"This is Diamond, my girlfriend," replied Jack.

"Hi!" said Diamond. She grinned a little goofy grin and waved.

"And your major?"

"Huh?"

"Communications, like me."

"Yeah, that."

"Okay," laughed Tiberius. "I take it you're kind of new to the college thing."

"I never thought I'd ever come here so I kind of don't know much about it yet," explained Di.

"Well," continued Tiberius. "We're getting ready for the orientation gathering in the Union. Come on over?"

"How does that work?" asked Diamond.

"You come in, meet people, get free stuff, that sort of thing."

"Cool! Come on Jack! Let's go!"

"Let me put my backpack down!"

"Free stuff! Meeting people! We might miss something!"

"Like what?"

A pixeled guy dashed in, jumped up and down once, did a little dance, shouted "hey!" and dashed out.

"Like that!"

"Really Di? Really? You were afraid of missing something like that?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right," she sighed. She seemed to think for a second. "Poor guy, the only thing he can do is dash about and show everyone his shortcomings."

Tiberius was having a hard time keeping a straight face.

"That's a pretty cool girlfriend you have there, Jack."

The three of them headed out of the dorm and proceeded towards the center of campus. The weather was warm and sunny.

"Feels like summer here," observed Diamond.

"It is," answered Tiberius.

"It's fall in the Islands," added Jack.

"Crazy how the seasons work," observed Tiberius. "So Jack, have you seen the latest issue of Captain Stupendous?"

"Not yet," replied Jack. "But I heard the graphics are seriously awesome. I plan to write a comic book myself this winter."

"Really?"

"Yeah I'm an author in my spare time, hope to retire from the news room at some point and do it full time."

"Have you written anything?"

"Mostly articles," began Jack.

"He's got a seriously sweet love story he's writing right now," added Diamond. "Love Under A Beldin Moon. It's got the coolest characters and there's so many of them! It's like all the guys in the football team. I can't keep 'em straight. Wait a minute! Back up . . . I can keep the guys in the football team straight, and the baseball team, and the rugby team, can't do the lacrosse team but they're all girls so that explains it."

Jack looked at Diamond, his mouth hanging open slightly. She had her little shy fawn face on, with a wide eye'd innocence thrown in for good measure.

"Bwahahahaha!" roared Tiberius. "I just got it! You gotta jock girlfriend Jack! How'd you do that?"

"Tiber?" sighed Jack. "If I started to explain it to you, we'd be here 'till graduation."

"So tell me about this comic book you're writing," continued Tiberius.

Jack paused. He looked around. "Let's sit there," he said.

They walked over to a tree and sat down in a semi-circle. Diamond was on his right, Tiberius was on his left. Jack pulled out a sketchbook and he began to sketch.

"This is the super-heroine," he explained.

The lines began to converge. There were big eyes, a cute overbite, and white shining hair parted down the side and hovering just above the shoulders

"You're going to make your girlfriend the super-heroine?" gasped Tiberius. "You are seriously scoring points dude. Wait! Diamond? You know super-heroines are in skimpy skin tight outfights right? You okay with that?"

"Oh Tiberius," giggled Diamond. "Jack knows how good I look in skin . . . tight outfits."

"Not entirely," observed Jack.

"Well I'll just have to model for you so there's no doubt," she retorted as she got up.

Tiberius just shook his head.

Reaching the Union building, they walked in.

"Some of the main lectures are in that side of the building," he started to explain. "But . . ."

"Photo booth!" cried Diamond. "Goofball pictures! Everybody in!" She started dragging Jack and Tiberius both.

"Wait, whoa, we can't fit all in there!"

"Do it anyway!" she said as they tumbled all in. The photo booth rumbled a bit do to the stress of three people, one of whom was at full energy in her enthusiasm, which drew the attention of two jocks.

"Dude," began the first, a fellow by the name Ronnie Blackstone. "That photo booth is rocking. Is that girl doing two guys at once in there?"

"If she is, she's serious jock material," replied the second, a fellow by the name of Anoki Moon.

"Better alert the Frat House," concluded Ronnie.

"Yeah but man we don't know who she is yet," argued Anoki.

"She's a Frosh that's for sure. Gotta be some nerd who'll know how to do an ID off our photos," replied Ronnie.

"What photos?"

"The one's we're about to take with our cell phones frabhead," groaned Ronnie.

"Oh yeah."

Diamond, Jack, and Willard fell out of the booth laughing. Jack helped them both up and Diamond gave him a little kiss.

"That was so much fun, darling," she added.

Meanwhile Anoki and Ronnie were snapping away.

"She's seriously drop dead," whispered Anoki. "Girl looking that good has got to have pictures somewhere."

It was at this point that a large Llama came strutting by.

"Trish?" began Jack.

The woman looked at him for a moment. "Do I know you?"

"Probably not," continued Jack. "But you dropped off the bucket last summer at my houseboat in the islands. I'm Jack Fearthegn and this is my girlfriend, Diamond Gemstone."

"Diamond Gemstone," whispered Anoki, "We got positive ID now. Get the nerd on it."

"Hi!" said Diamond waving her hand.

"You're kind of new here," observed Trish.

"Yeah I guess," bubbled Diamond. "It's really getting to be fun. I can't wait to see what happens next."

"You know the school cheer?"

"You have a cheer?"

Trish began the little dance and chant.

 _Rebels to the left,_  
 _Jocks are to the right,_  
 _Nerds are in the middle,_  
 _It's a Fight Fight Fight,_  
 _Llamas!_  
 _Llamas!_  
 _Gooooooo Llamas!_

"Hey I can do that!" exclaimed Diamond. The thought that she could do anything in college excited her. It was like a whole new discovery. Jack for himself, was tickled pink that she was getting so into it. From his point of view, every little success Diamond had here would knock a little piece down from the wall that kept her from seeing her own natural intelligence and abilities.

Within a couple of cheers, Diamond was perfectly imitating the moves and the chant and from the perspective of the two jocks watching the affair from a distance, she was doing it better than Trish.

"Wow!" exclaimed Trish. "I've never seen a girl pick it up that fast."

"Hey," exclaimed Diamond. "I'm a professional." She turned to Jack and gave him a saucy wink.

"Yep," thought Jack. "We have inside jokes now."

"That girl knows how to move," observed Ronnie. "She was doing it that last time better than the Mascot, and no one has done it better than Trish before. She's serious Jock quality. Gonna be String 10 by finals if we get her going."

"But she did two Nerds," argued Anoki.

"She was probably feeling sorry for them," replied Ronnie.

"But she did them without a keg!"

"Not every girl needs a keg to do the woo hoo dare," answered Ronnie.

Diamond was now hovering over the table with all the freebies . . . she grabbed a frisbee and promptly whipped it at Jack. He caught it, but barely. Then, she picked up a kicky-ball. With a flick of her wrist, the little ball was in the air and for the next few moments, it was staying there as Diamond shifted legs, knees, elbows, and wrists keeping it in the air. It got so fast that it seemed to be a blur. Then she was on her back and kicking it in the air over and over again. There was another flip and she was back on her feet and the ball was in her pocket.

"Jack? I'm heading over to Keith's Komics, if you want to join me later."

"Thanks Tiber, that might be fun sometime. But right now I'm on a date with Diamond."

"We are?" asked Diamond.

"We've been since we left the Islands," observed Jack.

"Oh," recalled Diamond. She looked at him. Her expression began to get soft. "I'm really here aren't I?"

"Yep," replied Jack.

"It's not a dream any more. It's real. I thought I lost you forever, but I got you back. And now . . ." she began to just circle around the whole room. Then she looked at Jack again. He noted she was getting one of those little emotional moments.

"PON CHEE!" and into his arms.

"Whoa," he groaned.

"Jack?" she said over his shoulder. "Are you saying I'm getting fat?"

"No Diamond. You just almost took me by surprise. But I heard your battle cry and knew how to defend myself."

"What's upstairs?"

"Let's see."

For the next couple of hours they were playing pool. It was something that Jack was better at than Diamond because while Get Funky's had a pool table, Scuzz did not. What Jack began to note however was that when he was busy lining up his shot, Diamond was always eyeing a nearby mirror. Finally his curiosity got the better of him.

"Di?"

"What darling?"

"Why are you looking at that mirror all the time?"

"I want to see which pose looks best when I'm holding a pool cue."

"Really."

"And playing strip-pool with you in my head."

Jack paused to take a breath and recover his balance.

"I'm down to my thong now. Put that ball in the pocket and I have to take it off."

Jack missed.

"Better luck next shot," she suggested with a little wicked grin.

Jack won anyway, but he suspected it was a slightly closer game than it should have been.

It was getting late and so they walked over to Simburger. Jack had his arm around her and she would routinely snuggle up to him when they had to stop and wait for traffic to clear the street.

"It really does feel like a date, darling," she observed as they dashed across the street to the diner. "And we haven't had once since . . ." she looked at him sadly.

He nodded. She had gotten one night off after she had moved in. But they had been so busy putting the houseboat together, getting all her stuff moved in, that they had just spent the evening moving things. Then flopping out on the couch, they played a few moments of Final Fantasy before they had just cuddled on the couch and closed their eyes, taking comfort in their proximity.

They sat in the booth and Diamond ordered a salad while Jack got a burger. They ate for a while and chatted small talk. She smiled. There was some gentle hand holding at points. Then he suddenly began to chuckle. Something seemed to strike him. He grabbed the menu from the metal stay and once again reviewed it. Then said, "Yes! We can do this here."

"What?" she asked.

He ordered a chocolate milkshake, and two straws.

She asked him what he was going to do. He told her it was secret stuff. She began to bounce on the seat wanting to know. He told her nothing. She begged, she begged some more, she did little waves of her fists in the air. But he would not relent.

"It's no fun when you won't fall for all my seduction tricks," she sighed.

"You love the fact that I'm holding out and you know it!" he retorted.

"That's beside the point," she answered.

When it came, he put the shake in the exact middle between them. He gave one of the straws to Diamond and took the other.

"Grandpa did this with Grandma," he explained. "It's supposed to be one of those old courtship rituals. I thought we'd try it."

"How does it work?"

"Put your straw in your mouth, like this."

She did so, but held it out in front with her index finger and thumb and then pretended to take a toke.

"Like this?" she asked, holding her breath in. Jack took a second to stop snickering.

"Not quite, now we put our ends into the shake together and we drink it simultaneously."

"We'll have to get really close together to do this," she observed.

"That's the idea."

They leaned in, and started drinking. She began to giggle, and he began to snigger.

"Try again," he asked.

"Uh huh?"

They actually had to do it quite a number of times, because they would burst into giggles. But they were constantly looking into each other's eyes.

Of course by that point the waitresses were giggling, the soda jerk was giggling, in fact most of the working staff was having what would be best described as cutie pie fits. Then the milk shake was empty, they made the slurping noises at the bottom just for a final set of giggles, and then Jack paid the bill, tipped the waitress and they started to walk home.

"That was the most romantic thing I think I've ever done," she sighed. "I don't think I've ever looked that long into your eyes ever. And Jack. I really lost myself in them."

He looked at her, and suddenly she grabbed his face and planted a big smooch on him.

"I love you I love you I love you so much Jack," she sighed. "It's . . . it's back . . . what I felt the first time I . . . touched you. It's like the bad thing never happened."

"Yeah," he sighed. He put his arm around her and they just leaned against each other on the sidewalk. The university stretched out before them all lit up for evening. "Only now? There's nothing hidden between us."

"Crazy how it all worked out for the best," she observed. "You spend all that time chasing Ariel, then you get just little glimpse of me out of the corner of your eye. You dash off, but you don't entirely forget. Then you are led to treasure first, then me, just after Ariel get's sick and throws up. And we fall in love because we're ready. You are ready because Ariel has strung you along just a little too long and I am ready because I've already thought you are beyond my reach and then suddenly, you're sitting across from me on a table and telling me I'm beautiful."

"Just like every customer in the club I imagine," sighed Jack with a bit of ironic grin.

"No no Jack," she said. "It was so different. The entire time, you were looking at my face. Darling, you're the only man who ever just looked at my face."

"Seriously?" asked Jack.

"Cross my heart," she replied. "I don't remember a single guy who ever made a come on to me that told me I was beautiful just by looking at my face. I had to be a bit more exposed to get the compliments." She paused. "And so when your hand brushed against mine I had to grab it and hold it and hold you and just lose myself in the love I was feeling for you. And then it was sweet time after sweet time with only a few moments between us, and then my heart was shattered. But the air was clear between us. And then Ariel, sweet little butterfly that she is, flits off and leaves you devastated, and lets me know. And Gabbi, sweet little thing, told me that you needed me and I ran as fast as I could crying all the way, looking into your face and crying even more, and telling you what I had to be free to do and you let me and I cried again. But darling, we were back together again and I was so happy,"

She was getting weepy again. "And now . . . now you've given me a house and taken me to college and here I am . . . in the middle of the most beautiful dream in the world and I don't have to worry about the bad things because I'm safe again."

She leaned against him for a moment and wiped off her tears. She looked up and smiled.

"Wow," sighed Jack. "You have no idea how much . . . to see you this happy . . ."

They just held each other for a moment and then walked back to campus. He walked her to her dorm room and then she kissed him goodnight. A long sweet set of kisses. And then he wandered back to his own room. He opened the door, and then just kind of leaned upon the door posts. Tiberius looked up from his lap top.

"Looks like that was one seriously hot date," suggested Tiberius.

"Steaming," said Jack. "You have no idea how emotional and passionate that girl can get." He sighed. "I don't think I could ever possibly love any woman more than I love her right now."

"Hope I can find a woman like her some day," mused Tiberius.

"Be careful what you wish for," warned Jack. "There's always more to it than meets the eye."

"Really?" asked Tiberius. "You get a really exotic looking woman, rich creamy gravy grey skin, big red eyes, white shimmering hair. Hardly any woman in the world looks like a dark elf. Elf, Jack! She's an elf. She does magic. Real magic, and she has those really cool pointed ears! And she's the hottest date you've ever had? What is wrong with that picture?"

"Back story dude," said Jack. "Back story. This princess has a lot of dragons around her that need slaying. Some very big and nasty ones."

Tiberius exhaled suddenly. "Monsters eh? Long time it's been since I heard someone talk about them as if they existed outside a computer game."

"They do," intoned Jack. "Oh yes, they do."

"Better be up for it then," advised Tiberius.

"I have to," sighed Jack. "It will kill her if I'm not. And that isn't meant figuratively."

* * *

Across campus, around a large wide screen computer, a pack of Jocks were looking intently with wide eyes, and not a little drool, at least metaphorically.

"Man oh man, look at that rack," moaned one.

"She is so hot, I can't believe she was in that photo booth. What's that she's pulling the string on like it's about to come off? I didn't think they made thongs that thin."

"Silver g-string guy. Not many strippers wear them any more. But if they do, it's hot. And then they take them off!"

"Diamond Gemstone, the only exotic dark elven dancer in . . . Scuzzbuckets! That place is like the Geronimo's in France. Only the best dance there. It's better than The Mustang in Lucky Palms!"

"No frabbin way!"

"Yeah frabbin way. She's not only got the ass, she's got the moves to go with it!"

"And she's here on campus, we gotta get her into the party scene. Get those long legs up on the table! Yeah!"

* * *

Diamond was snuggled up in a very comfortable bed. It had red sheets and a black coverall, her favorite colors. There was a knocking at the door.

"Who is it?" She asked sleepily.

"It's me Jack, it's time to get up Diamond."

"What for?" she looked at the clock. "Jack," she sighed. "It's six thirty in the morning."

"College is different Di."

"Nuh uh!"

"Diamond don't make me come in there."

"Maybe I'm pixeled and that's my plan?" she suggested between yawns.

"You wear a thick terry cloth robe Di," observed Jack. "I've seen you in it, remember?"

"I could take it off," she threatened.

"And spoil the courtship?"

"You're no fun!" she moaned. "When do we have to go to that class thing?"

"Microstructure of Integrity 102, in the Nicolaus School of Business, twelve noon,"

"Jack! That's hours from now! I wanna sleep in!"

"Gotta get breakfast Di, and study."

"Study? Why?"

"It's what you do in college Di," he explained.

"No!" she said, opening the door, her bright red terry cloth robe still on. "It's not! You can't fool me Jack. This is not what you do in college."

"Oh?" asked Jack, leaning against the door post with his arms crossed and a slight smile upon his face. "And what do you do in College?"

"PARTY! WOO WOO WOO WOO!"

"Um try again," suggested Jack.

"You can't fool me Jack, I might not do math but I've seen the movies."

"It's all illusion Di," he replied.

"Wha?" a look of uncertainty began to cross her face. That possibility had not occurred to her.

"WHO SAID PARTY!" came a loud girl's voice behind Jack.

"I SAID PARTY!" cried Diamond with a look of total triumph in her eyes.

"PARTY! WOO! KEGGER! WOO! BONFIRE! WOO! MAKE OUT DARES! WOO WOO WOO!" the two of them shouted together pumping their arms to the rhythm of it..

"Why do these things always happen to me?" sighed Jack closing his eyes.

The two girls proceed to do a little march dance around Jack singing "Sleep all day! Party all night!"

"What's your name?" asked Diamond to the new girl. She had olive skin, a Mediterranean cast, and thick black hair parted down the middle. She was in a blouse with a pull over sweater and blue jeans.

"Tammy Parker," she replied. "I'm majoring in PARTY!"

"ME TO!" shouted Di.

The two of them paused to do another "WOO WOO WOO!" cheer.

"So who's this cutie pie Nerd boy?" asked Tammy giving Jack an appraising eye. She was one of the top Jocks on campus and normally would not have paid the slightest heed to a non-Jock, but she could see the way Diamond was looking at him and wondered if there was more to him to know. And upon second look, she noted he had a certain contemplative ruggedness which suggested deep affection. That's a turn on for any girl.

"That," said Diamond in a tone of happiness with a little 'hands off him or else' spread on top, "Is my BOYfriend, Jack."

"Whoa, you just got here and already snagged him?" asked Tammy. Campus timing usually took three days before you got that serious.

"We've been together already back in the Islands," suggested Jack.

"And you're going to college together?" asked Tammy, "And you're not in the same room?"

"He's so romantic!" sighed Diamond with a little girly grin. "I'm being given an old fashioned courtship."

Tammy shrugged. "Whatever," she said.

Jack wondered if she even knew what Diamond was talking about.

"Diamond, we gotta talk after breakfast, kay?" She finished.

"Right!"

Tammy walked off. Diamond looked at Jack with a certain gotcha in her gaze.

"Owned," she suggested.

"I thought we could have breakfast together," sighed Jack.

"Ah Jack, yeah," she said. She smiled because she loved them doing things together.

"And then study together before class?"

"After I talk to Tammy, kay?"

"Before Di, it works best to go to class with a little time between study and class."

She sighed.

"Diamond," began Jack. "Cutie pie elf girl," he added for good measure because he had learned she ate up little flatteries like a glutton. "Give it a try. You yourself never expected to be here. You might like studying with me."

"Okay," she agreed.

It was downstairs for waffles someone had made and then he led her back upstairs to the couch in her room.

"That was the other reason I had them do up this room," He explained. "We have our own private study hall here. Just like High School. You remember how much fun study hall in High School was?"

"Nope," she replied. "I was having too much fun being a cheerleader and flirting with all the boys and leaving them totally unsatisfied." She began to sing and do a little dance about the room . . .

 _"I know what boys want,_  
 _I know what guys like,_  
 _They want to touch me,_  
 _I never let them,_  
 _Nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah?_  
 _Nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah!"_

"Diamond? Did anyone ever tell you that you're just evil?"

"Yeah," she said with a flirty grin.

He pulled their respective class books out of the book shelf and handing her's over, he sat down on the couch. She promptly sat in his lap and looked into his eyes touching his nose with hers while gently bumping foreheads.

"Hi!" she said in a cute flirty way. "If I had known this is what you did when you studied, I wouldn't have had to let you talk me into it," and proceeded to give him some serious make out kisses for a moment. Jack really did not have too strong an objection to being kissed like that. It was after all, the girl he was hopelessly in love with. But he picked her off of his lap and sat her down next to him. He put the book into her hands opened to the first chapter.

"You start to read here," he suggested.

"Oh alright," she sighed.

For about five minutes there was nothing but the silence of turning pages. Then Diamond had a comment to make.

"BOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIING!"

Jack had to admit he was a little disappointed. But if she never had developed study habits in High School, this would be chore for her. But she saw his disappointment.

"We can still walk to class together," she offered. When he smiled at that, she felt satisfied and stood up, leaning over to give him a kiss. "Gonna talk to Tammy now. Bye bye and don't forget how much I really love you."

"Love you heaps and heaps back," he said with a brave smile.

She walked out of the room.

"Oh well," he figured. "I can study with Tiberius." He texted Tiber and shortly thereafter the two of them were reading their respective books and on occasion, making comments about what they were discovering. Then at eleven thirty, he met Diamond and they walked together to their class. She hung on to his arm the whole time walking beside him. He would occasionally steal a glance at her and she'd look back at him. And he knew she loved him just from her gaze.

Class was a bit of adventure as well. Professor Sparks was their teacher and Jack scribbled frantically trying to get everything down. But every so often Diamond would lean over and scribble a little heart on his note pad. About a third of the way through the class, he responded by drawing a little bag of sugar and a pie on her pad. And then she wrote "Aw" on his note pad. And then as the class was about to wrap up, he turned to write I, followed by a heart, and followed by a diamond, and realized her note pad was covered entirely in random doodles. She had not taken a single note. She did like his little 'I heart diamond' though, and tore it out of the pad and put it in the billfold in her purse.

"How can she hope to get a passing grade here?" he wondered.


	12. Chapter 12 - Jocks And Nerds

**Jocks And Nerds**

"Good morning Campus, this is Jack your roving broadcast reporter . . ."

"And this is his drop dead gorgeous assistant Diamond . . ."

"Catching you up on the latest inter campus news and sports . . ."

"And fashion tips girls. While you'll never look as good as I do? I can help you get almost there."

"So what's the scoop on the latest protests? Not much. The Save the Llama Herding program remains on the axe in spite of the protests on campus because the recent populist upset over the establishment has Frump, the new leader of the free world, axing everything which will not make Simtopia great again. So while his establishment enemies scream all the appropriate rebel catchwords to get our rebel students clearly lining up, the populists of middle Simtopia remain politically dominant."

"And lets face it girls. Are you as lardo as you think? Probably but you don't have to starve yourself. This new milkshake diet really works. Just have a dozen chocolate milkshakes every day like I do, with five miles of jogging, 200 sit ups, and a good thirty minute cardio work out and you'll be just a thin and trim as me in no time, and while you'll never knock the socks off of all the boys, like me, you'll knock enough socks off to be able to say you have the knockers."

There was a brief moment of dead air.

"Ahem. In the sports line up has the Llamas facing the Fighting Gnomes in this Saturday's game. Can the Llamas maintain their winning streak?"

"Given their clashing colors? This girl thinks not. I mean who would be caught dead in that combo? The Gnomes with their bold colors and really broad shoulders are sure to set this little cheerleader's heart all a thumping and that means an easy win for them in this Saturday's game."

There was another moment of dead air.

"Diamond? I don't think you're taking this at all seriously."

"Well of course not Jack, this is just an academic assignment, it's not as if anyone is really listening to us."

"That's beside the point. We have sound professional on the air."

"I'm tired of being professional. I've been professional long enough. I left professional on the stage back home and now I'm going to be a PARTY girl."

"On the air?"

"Why not? Which reminds me. The Jocks issued a make out dare last night at the kegger and I need to deliver before tonight's party so . . ."

"What do you mean make out dare?"

"Kiss me Nerd Boy!"

"SQUEEEEE BUZZZZZZZ!"

Followed by static.

* * *

The music was thumping in the dorm gym and Diamond was in a full cardio work out while Tammy was busy with the weights. Tammy was in sweats and Diamond had opted for white yoga pants with red embellishments and a sports bra top, likewise coordinated. She liked the combo, it kept to Jack's house rules while letting him know she had the curves in all the right places and in perfect proportions.

"Why don't you do weights, Diamond?"

"Makes my muscles stand out to much and reduces the size of the breasts. Can't have that."

"Why not?" asked Tammy. "Less in front means better balance and faster running, swimming, and sports. And the guys really like the muscles."

"I don't deny that, but in my profession that's kind of a liability. The guys like a softer look."

"Really? You actually think the guys like a softer body."

"Yep," she replied. "I hear it an awful lot from my fans."

"Crazy," sighed Tammy. "Ever since I was in High School, it was all about athletics."

"Oh I don't deny that the teen age guys think a girl's body needs to show the muscles. But when they get older, they really go for the softer look."

"So what do you do as a profession that would make them like that? You said fans."

"I dance, do comedy, and sing in the theater. Very serious expressionistic arts. Our choreographer is one of the oldest in the business and she knows how to blend in the moves and the dramatic monologues and music into a seamless fusion."

"Wow! That sounds like the musicals in Bridgeport then."

"Close, I'm not that high up in the totem pole, but folks do say we do it best for what we do. We bring our audience to a very high state of emotion. Why some times you would think they were rioting, we move them so much."

"Neat," continued Tammy. "I always wanted to be a ballet dancer. Is it anything like that?"

"We throw our legs around sometimes, but . . . not really. It's a bit modern. Jazz elements in particular are crucial for the interpretive elements of our moves."

"That sounds so cool. I've never meet a theater arts person before that was a Jock. Usually they're rebels."

Diamond was having a hard time keeping a straight face, but she had to admit that Jack had written some very good patter. It sounded so classy and avant guard and Tammy was swallowing it hook line and sinker. But what made it particularly nice was that she was pretty much telling the truth. It wasn't the sort of lies she had told Jack by a long shot. What she was doing was telling the truth in such a fashion that there were a wide range of interpretations for her word usage. And it was way easier for her to converse on what her past had been. Furthermore, she and Jack could talk about things in the open around the other students without them catching on. There was always a little cross over between the Jocks, Nerds, and Rebels and so a little theater jargon between a Jock and Nerd would raise no eyebrows.

"It's like the carney we use," observed Diamond as she was looking over the sheet of phrases and catch words Jack was writing out.

"Carney?" asked Jack.

"Remember when I said 'Ex nay on the per stray?'"

"Yeah, I do," mused Jack.

"What I was really saying was 'Nix the stripper' to Ayumi. I was letting her know you didn't know yet," commented Diamond. "Carney was made in the Carnivals to communicate stuff when there were possibly undercover cops around. As carnival acts moved into the theater, it moved there. Then Rosa made sure we all learned it so we could talk about stuff safely. It's really helped. Because sometimes Rochelle doesn't know when to keep her mouth shut. She's still kind of young in some circumstances."

"Ah," mused Jack. "So what was the rest of the conversation?"

"She asked me how my last night at work went and I replied that it wasn't so bad, I had only been fondled twice. Then she wanted to know if Gabbi had used fairy dust on the perverts who had grabbed me and I said that Gabbi was not around."

"So, ready for Lovelace's party tonight at the Frat house?" asked Tammy, bringing Diamond back to the present.

"Am I ever!" cried Diamond. "What should I wear tonight? Are we going hot or school spirit or is this strictly casual?"

Tammy mused for a moment. "I was just going to wear blue jeans and a button down. I never thought about dressing special for a frat boy party."

Diamond nodded. That clinched it for her. If the jocks were thinking blue jeans, she'd go full club on them. If there was one thing she was going to do tonight, it was going to be the center of attention.

Jack was busy getting a pile of books together with Tiberius for study over at Keith's Komics when Diamond walked into the room.

"Whoa!" exhaled Tiberius.

Diamond was in a white miniskirt and blouse which was only buttoned on top and tied into a knot just below her bra. Her shoes were a mild heel but still elevated. There was a silver banded chain around her throat.

"Hi gorgeous," said Jack. "Don't tell me, let me guess, there's a party?"

"Yeah," she said. "Frat House, Lovelace. So darling, I wanted to give you a kiss before I go."

"Di? You be careful okay, hon? If something bad were to happen to you?"

"Darling, this isn't the stage, what could happen?" She give him a sweet long kiss and sauntered out.

"You're looking worried Jack," observed Tiberius.

"I swear she seems to think sometimes that all the 'bad stuff' is in the theater," he replied.

"Well, being the only Jock surrounded by Rebels, I can imagine," commented Tiberius. "Rebels are edgy, but they have a problem of trying out 'new' stuff which was new a few hundred years ago and really messed those people up. But because they don't know, they get into the same sort of trouble. At least Jocks don't get that stupid sometimes.

Jack did not elaborate on Tiberius's comment. He paused and wondered. Should he go to that party?

"Tiber?" he began.

"I can tell you're worried about this," observed Tiberius.

"Yeah, if I go to these parties, I won't be able to study. And she goes to a different one each night. If I stick with her, I won't be able to graduate because I won't be able to pass the finals. And this whole process will have been for nothing. But . . . I love her so much . . . the thought of something bad happening to her. She . . . she attracts trouble like honey does flies."

"Hey guy, there's going to be some really strong decent Jock who won't let some of the Jock wanna be's force her into anything."

"And that's the second thing I worry about. Look at me Tiber? I'm not strong. I'm not handsome. I'm a Nerd. All I do is write books and do weather reports back in the Islands. And she's just so . . . beautiful. I see those football players lining up for the games and there she is on that cheerleader squad, the only dark elf on the team, with . . . with that beautiful face and smile, waving those pom poms and . . . I just feel like I really can't measure up."

"Yeah but Jack," observed Tiberius shaking his head. "She really worships the ground you walk on. I can see that in the way she's always looking at you. And I watch the Jocks watch her looking at you. They can see it to. It totally baffles them. I don't know what you did guy, but she's got to be the most totally devoted girlfriend I've ever seen. Man! What is your secret?"

"All I do is love her," sighed Jack. "That's really all I do. And you think that's going to be enough?"

"Dude," chucked Tiberius. "If you're the only guy doing it, and doing it right, why would she even think of going somewhere else?"

He paused. "I guess I've got to trust her don't I?"

"It's what love is built on," suggested Tiberius. "You said it yourself when we were studying last night."

"Just the same," sighed Jack. "I guess I get scared on occasion. If I lost her, I think I'd die. I went through so much pain to get her."

"Really?" asked Tiberius.

"And the crazy thing is? I didn't realize I was suffering for her at the time. I had no idea that the pain I was being put through was to make sure that when I realized how much she needed me . . . I would be there for her."

"Yep, and that's why you can be sure she'll never leave you guy," concluded Tiberius. "Come on dude, let's head to the Komics. She'll be fine and we'll get our brainiac fix for the night. And she'll be back at the end of the party to give you some serious juiced kissin', if I know her."

Neck and neck, the two buddies headed off into the night.

* * *

"Hello," said Trey Francis to himself and the jocks standing around him at the front of the frat house. "Our little stripper Cheerleader has arrived to the docking bay."

All the girls were in blue jeans or mini-skirts, but Diamond's was the shortest. Her body language left no doubt she was certain she was the hottest girl there. She promptly made a beeline to the Juice Keg.

"Okay boys," she announced. "Who's the jock who let's the girls do the champion Keg Stands?"

"Right here," shouted Murphy Brotaski. "I've got the arms, if you got the throat."

"The deepest," growled Diamond.

"This is going to be good, teensy thongs under the skirt here we come," whispered Trey.

Murphy wasn't just skilled at giving the girl's keg stands, his specialty was doing it such a fashion that the skirt was going to fall up to the waist when he did it. Which was why most of the older Jock women were in blue jeans. While the boys never told the girls this was the plan, by the time the froshes had done one or two keg stands, they figured if they didn't want the boys to know the color or cut of their underwear, they'd need to wear jeans.

And there was absolutely no doubt in the minds of the jocks that Diamond's underwear was going to be the briefest they had ever seen. After all, who had ever heard of a stripper who would not be wearing a thong or something smaller, if at all under her skirt.

With a single sweep of his arms, Diamond was upside down and gulping down the juice with all the gusto of an old pro. And without fail, her mini-skirt fell straight down, which was up to her navel.

"No frabbin way," groaned the Jocks.

Diamond had the most opaque granny cut white cotton panties anyone had ever seen at a kegger, and what's more, to add insult to injury, a traffic sign had been emblazoned upon the seat of them.

The sign said, "Wrong Way, Do Not Enter".

"Owned," thought Diamond as she continued to gulp down the juice.

"She's good," thought Tammy. "She's giving the boys a real run for their money."

"Huddle," called the Jock Boys. They retired to plan something new.

Jack and Tiberius were back in their dorm room later when the door flew open with a resounding bang.

"Hiya Yack!" suggested Diamond with a very loose neck and rubbery legs. "Hiz waz an awzome pardie un I had a great time, bud now I godda kizzz you goodnight." She staggered in, threw her arms around Jack, gave him a very flavorful kiss, and then slid down his front and plopped upon the floor, giggled once, and fell asleep, or passed out. Jack wasn't sure.

"Told you she'd be okay," suggested Tiberius.

The two of them got her up, and then Tiberius helped Jack throw her over his shoulder. He carried her to her own room. Then simply because he was glad that she was only drunk, he sat on the couch holding her in his arms. They woke up the next morning, him with a sore back and legs which were sound asleep, she with a splitting headache.

They went to class at the usual time. And Jack managed to take notes. Diamond's expression was bleary through most of the class, and she seemed to be in a daze. So Jack and Tiberius researched sure fire hangover cures and when they found one, they made it and gave it to her.

"Woo!" she shouted when it hit her. "That was awesome! PARTY!'

And she dashed off with Tammy to the bowling alley while Jack and Tiberius just looked at each other.

"You know," observed Tiberius. "I'm beginning to understand why you said what you said about back stories."

* * *

Meanwhile, in another part of the campus, the jocks were conferring. More pictures were being passed out. Given the rather unanticipated behavior of what was supposed to be the most exotic of dancers in the Scuzz, doubts as to the veracity of the ID were being discussed.

"Strippers are supposed to take their clothes off, as often as they can dudes!" argued one. "It's in the movies so it's got to be true!"

"Maybe we didn't get her drunk enough?"

"Man! We've seen froshes streak and skinny dip with less juice in them than that girl!"

"Yeah, but she knew how to pack it in. Murphy's arms are still getting botox shots!"

"There's got to be a reason why she didn't wear a hot thong!"

"Men," began Ronnie Blackstone. "We have a challenge before us."

The rest of the Jocks nodded.

"There is no doubt that Diamond Gemstone is one of the hottest strippers in the Scuzz, which is the hottest club in Simtopia. So she will take it off under the right conditions. What we have to find, are . . . the conditions."

"Whoa," came the collected groans of the Jocks.

"Sounds like we gotta think!"

"Makes my brain hurt," grumbled another.

"Maybe a Nerd will know."

"Get on it."

* * *

Tiberius and Jack were in Diamond's room, studying on the couch, waiting for Diamond to come back.

She came in around one.

"Hi darling," she began. "It was fun at the bowling alley. Tammy and I were playing for a bit and then a couple of the jock boys gave us a rather amusing challenge."

"Which was?" asked Jack.

"A game. Me and Tammy verses them. Winner gets the underwear of the loser."

Jack closed his eyes, preparing for the worst. "And?"

Diamond triumphantly held aloft some rather dingy briefs.

"I didn't know you were that good at bowling," observed Jack.

"Tammy is good at bowling, I was good at buying them lots of drinks," explained Diamond. "By the sixth round, while they weren't in the gutters, their balls were." She paused. "Hmm, that has a double meaning doesn't it? Gonna have to send that to Rosa as a patter text. She'll know how to put it in."

"Gonna leave you two lovebirds now," suggested Tiberius. "See you in a bit Jack, if I'm still awake."

"Be right there," said Jack.

"No you're not," whispered Diamond.

She plopped into his lap.

"Jack," she said running her finger along his shoulders. "Um, I have a sneaking suspicion that some of my . . . um . . . work photos are circulating."

"I see," observed Jack. He sighed. "Comes as no surprise."

"I kind of thought no one would know here," she said resting her head upon him.

"Diamond," began Jack, putting his arms around her and just holding her close to him. "When we got here. You were right. No one would have known. But darling girl, you've been letting everyone know you're here since Sunday."

"I haven't been telling anyone what I do," she argued.

"No, you haven't," agreed Jack. "But you've been saying 'Hi!' very loudly. And there's nothing wrong with being friendly. But girl, you're so exuberant, so buoyant, so electrifying that someone wanted to find out more about you and . . . well it was bound to spring out."

"But I'm happy to make friends, can't I be happy making friends?"

"Diamond, it's not your fault girl. Really, it isn't. You've maybe drunk a little to much, you've maybe shouted a little to loud. But my beloved little misty elf," Jack gently brushed her chin so he might look into her eyes. "What you've done in the past can't be erased. And because you're making friends and being a little bright shining light, people have begun to find out who you are."

She kissed him once and then just looked into his eyes. "You're so good to me my darling," she said.

"Why are you suspicious?" he asked.

"It's not much to go on, I just heard the phrase, 'she's supposed to be a stripper. Why isn't she acting like one?' between two other jocks when I came out of the restroom."

"Hmm," sighed Jack. "That does kind of suggest it doesn't it."

"That's the problem with girls like Cocoa," sighed Diamond. "She and all her fellow travelers give the rest of us just trying to survive a bad rap."

"But seriously . . ."

"Jack there was one dancer at the club last year who would walk round with the customers and make sure each one of them had a hand on one of her breasts. And she did this routinely. Me and Gabrielle were so glad to see her go. The number of times we were grabbed dropped within a couple of weeks to a tenth of the times. In fact, there was a whole week last spring when I wasn't grabbed once!"

"And that Diamond," mused Jack, for the idea was just beginning to present itself to him. "Is probably one of the reasons why you feel so deeply in love with me over time. I think the only time I've done anything was when I patted your behind that once when you deliberately hiked up your skirt to give me a peak after we reconciled."

"Which only makes me want you to do it again," she sighed. "But you're right. It's this courtship thing that I've been the biggest glutton for. Part of me is screaming to have you in my bed. To feel you deep within me, to know that you and I are as close as we can get. And the other part of me is saying, 'but this is why you know he's not like the other guys.' Oh Jack . . . why am I so torn?"

"Expectation verses reality I guess," sighed Jack. "I really sometimes dream of you dancing for me, seeing you completely and entirely, and then watching you come to my bed and we woo hoo. But then my Grandfather pops in with a switch and gives me a whoopin and says, 'Now Jack, that ain't the way to treat a lady.' And then I realize that the reason why I love you is because you are happy we're just courting. You're not acting like Cocoa. You're not even acting like Ariel."

"It is like the prince and princess story," sighed Diamond. "I've been carried off. And I'm being taken to your castle. I just have these little moments when I kind of wish a storm would come up and we'd have to take shelter in a cave and then kind of . . . lose control." She leaned against him. "I find you very irresistible at times. But then something just holds me back and says, 'It will be so special for you if you wait. And Ariel didn't.'"

"No, she didn't," sighed Jack. "And it was really great, that evening. It was so sexy and exciting. But then living with her, and that constant drive by her to be 'exciting'. She wasn't much of a deep thinker. Did I ever tell you about the time she decided to take the houseboat out to one of the dive spots after I went to work?"

"No," said Diamond. "We've never really talked about those two weeks. Of course all I could have told you about was the new costume I tried, it was a bunch of multi colored gauze kerchiefs which were taped to my body. It didn't really make that big of a hit after the second time. But then again it might have been because I was blue after losing you to her."

"Well I got back to the dock and there was no houseboat. So I called Ariel and she told me that she couldn't understand how I didn't know. She had left a note on my desk just before she set out."

"At work?"

"In the lower hull."

Diamond began to giggle.

"And then her attempt to be philosophical one evening when I was struggling with some professor's interview about a new theory of metaphysics. I so wanted to talk with someone who would at least try to grasp it. Granted, you wouldn't have either at first. But you would have started to ask questions, like you do when I start to talk about my latest chapter in Love Under A Beldin Moon. She said, and I quote, 'Why do clowns make us happy? I wouldn't be caught dead dressing like them. If I'm not happy dressed like that, why would they make me happy dressed like that?'"

"Jack? Am I thinking right in concluding she's making no sense?"

"Yep."

"Jack, did you miss me those two weeks?"

"I didn't think I did at first. Well at first I was miserable. It like a beautiful painting that got rained on and all the colors washed off. All that was left was a dull sheen, an ugly pale reflection of something I did not fully see. But then little by little, as Ariel kept trying to come up with ways to make our relationship exciting, which did not involve us talking about things beyond the latest exciting thing I began saying to myself, 'Di would have just been happy sitting with me while I ate lunch.' or 'Di would want to know why S'nae could not be bothered to learn her mother's language' or 'Di would have wanted to slow dance to this song because it was about falling in love'."

"But a little thing inside of me would say, 'she's a stripper Jack, it was all an act. She was just pretending so you would . . .' and then I'd ask . . . 'would what? Why would she pretend anything to be with me? I wanted her to be with me already.' and then the voice would say 'she lied to you'. And then I'd just sit there in the throes of indecision. You would send a text saying 'please talk Jack, we were so close, let me explain, don't leave me, I love you' and I'd sit there staring and not know what to do. Because that could have been a lie too."

"But Ariel leaves me, I'm broken hearted again, and then all of a sudden you were there, crying, begging, hoping, and I could see your face again, see your eyes again, and I realized that I was not looking at a dull ugly sheen, I'm not looking at a woman who's lying any more. What I was really looking at was pure black tarnished silver, and if I just started to polish it, your reflection would come through, bright and shining, even grander than the first painting."

"It was only then that I realized that yeah, I missed you those two weeks."

"Kiss me Jack. Kiss me all night. Let me say 'I love you,'" she whispered.

They gently kissed for a few moments. And after each kiss, she would whisper, "I love you so much." Then she nestled into his shoulder, and before they knew it, they had fallen asleep on the couch. Jack woke up around two. He picked her up, and put her on the bed. Kissing her on the forehead, he heard her happily hum once and then he returned to his room and fell into his own bed.

It was Thursday morning. He got up, rattled her door until she came out, grumbling because they had a lecture to attend and they headed for class, somewhat hungry and sleepy. One thing he had to admit. While she seemed totally determined to Not Study and Be A Goofball and Party All Night, she never skipped a class.

"I'm with you then," she argued. "Why would I turn down a chance to do something with you?"

"You could study with me?" he countered.

"I'm a woman with a heart, not a brain," she replied.

"You and the Scarecrow in Oz," observed Jack.

"Not a proper analogy darling, he's a guy who's made of straw. I'm a girl and if I kissed him he'd catch fire."

"Won't argue with that," replied Jack.

They sat down at the table and pulled out their respective notebooks.

"Jack? Are you aware that there are two vampires sitting behind us in class?" she offered.

"Yep, we'll just have to deal with it."

Then Professor Sparks came and and began to make a white board presentation. Jack started to scribble notes. Then shortly there after, he began to feel the gentle sensation of something caressing his foot.

"Di," he whispered.

"Uh huh?" she whispered back.

"Are you playing footsie with me?"

"Uh huh?"

"You going to stop?"

"Nuh uh," she replied.

It was a long lecture, Jack struggled to maintain his note taking because Diamond's little footsie game was a bit distracting. He managed to ask a couple of questions. Diamond was asleep by the end of the first half and Jack would have loved to join her but he kept feeling that there were two pairs of eyes boring into his neck from behind him. He looked back. The two girls with pale eyes just smiled.

When the lecture was over, Diamond was feeling a bit more refreshed and they went back to the dorm where she made them peanut butter sandwiches and cut one of them into the shape of a heart which she gave to him first.

"Almost hate to eat it, it looks so cute," he chuckled.

She hugged him. Then when lunch was over with they went over to the couch in the lounge and sat for a few moments, playing a video game.

"Tomorrow's mid-terms," he observed.

"That's right!" She exclaimed. "I gotta go or I'll be late for the mid-term party! Bye!"

She kissed him and dashed off.

"Mid Term Party?" he said out loud, staring at the TV screen which was asking him if he wished to save his game.

Tiberius and he were back in Diamond's room later that evening, cramming from their notes when she came in with a look of amusement. There was a particular twinkle in her eye.

"How was the party?" began Jack.

"It was fun. Then guess what the Jock boys decided to throw? With a 100 simoleon prize."

"Um," began Tiberius. "I kind of have my suspicions but I don't know if I want to guess."

"You guessed it," she replied. "Wet T-shirt contest." she smirked. "Amateurs." she added. "I don't even know why they tried." She smirked again.

Tiberius looked somewhat disconcerted at Jack. Jack had a bit of panic, but the twinkle in Diamond's eyes told him there was more to the story.

"Give her a chance to explain, Tiber," he said. "I know Diamond."

"You didn't enter it did you?" asked Tiberius, somewhat taken aback.

"Tiber," began Diamond. "I'm a theater girl. You don't stay in the theater long if you don't know how to wear a wet t-shirt. I got into a cute little cut of blue jeans and the slipped into a nice cotton loose T-shirt that came halfway down which was just like you!" she finished pointed to Tiberius.

"Me?" He said.

"Black," she replied with a grin. "Loose, cotton, and black. When it gets wet, clings perfectly, but shows nothing, save the curves. And Tiber? I have the curves. The rest of the girls? They didn't have a chance."

She stood there for a second with a rather triumphal cast to her expression.

"Well of course once we're all wet and most of the other girls are letting the boys in on what little mother nature gave 'em with their little thin semi-see through cottons, the jocks start the ancient Wet T-Shirt chant, 'Skin to Win'. And I know just what I'm going to do."

"Um," began Tiberius. "You didn't take off your T-shirt did you?"

"Why would I do that? I'm a theater girl. I didn't see a tip jar. Did you see a tip jar Tiber?"

"I wasn't even there!"

"So you didn't see a tip jar either then." she concluded. "Well of course every other girl has lost her shirt . . . poor things they don't really have a chance . . . and there I am, the only girl left with her T-shirt on, but I keep looking like it's gonna fly any second now. And so I raised my hands and said, 'Well boys, I'm just one of those girls who does nothing half way, if this t-shirt flies, so will the jeans. And if it's going to be skin to win, then you're going to see all of it.' And oh, they were so happy, you could hear 'em three blocks away I swear."

"'But' I continue. 'I'm a theater girl and I'm not going to just do this. I have to have a beat.' And the boom boxes start booming so fast. It's amazing Tiber, how a sweet little innocent smile from a girl can motivate jocks. And then I said. 'One last thing. We have a pool behind us and I would love this to end in a skinny dip. So you all get ready and into the pool and then I'll make a full production out of joining you."

"Really," continued Tiberius. He looked at Jack, who was beginning to lose it. "You know what's about to happen don't you?"

"I think I do," chuckled Jack.

"Oh Tiber! It was so dramatic! All that denim just taking off through the air and flying south for the winter! Who ever thought a College Jock Party would be so educational. I swear I got a full course in anatomy."

"And then?" asked Tiberius somewhat stunned and uncertain . . .

Diamond began to sing the lyrics of a song she had already sung once that week as she did a little hop step in a circle, swinging her hands to the rhythm.

 _But you, you're special_  
 _I might let you_  
 _You're so much different_  
 _I might let you_  
 _Mmm, would you like that_  
 _I might let you_

 _Ha ha! Suckers!_

 _Nyah Nyah Nyah Nyah Nyah?_  
 _Nyah Nyah Nyah Nyah Nyah!_

She ended with. "I think they're probably still in the pool in a state of shock. I just up and hopped on my broom and zipped back to Tammy's to change, and then come back here."

"I take it you didn't win the contest then?" asked Tiberius.

"Oh Tiber," finished Diamond. "It wasn't a fair contest. I couldn't just do that to the rest of those girls."


	13. Chapter 13 - There's Just No Justice

**There's Just No Justice**

 _I was working in the lab, late one night,_  
 _When my eyes beheld an eerie sight,_  
 _For my monster from his slab, began to rise,_  
 _And suddenly to my surprise,_

Sang Sapphire at the mic.

 _He did the mash,_

Suggested the rest of the Jesters.

 _He did the monster mash._

Elaborated Sapphire.

 _The monster mash,_

Repeated the Jesters.

 _It was a graveyard smash._

Observed Sapphire melodically.

 _He did the mash,_

Sang the Jesters.

 _It caught on in a flash,_

Explained Sapphire.

 _He did the mash,_

The Jesters felt that the point had not been made sufficiently.

 _He did the monster mash._

Sapphire just had to agree.

"Oh Diamond, this is so cool. I can't believe I'm at a real college party. And a Spooky Day party too. And who got the Jesters to play?" jabbered Rochelle all excited. She was dressed all up as a sweet little angel with glowing halo and genuine feathery wings. Hopefully Rosa would not be missing the costume between her running off with it for the party and her next work night. But hey? How often did a teen age girl get to dress in such an expensive costume? In the case of Rochelle, don't answer that. There was enough irony in her costume choice to begin with. Diamond was dressed in her little witch outfit, and Jack was in a gentleman's outfit from the 18th century, with long coat and ruffles.

 _From my laboratory in the castle east,_  
 _To the master bedroom where the vampires feast,_  
 _The ghouls all came from their humble abodes,_  
 _To get a jolt from my electrodes._

Sapphire was singing with her guitar, the mic being standing. Ayumi was on the keyboards to her right. Upon the electronic piano were about a dozen paper plates with scattered plastic forks, and bits of cake crumb and orange icing. Behind her on her left was Sanguine playing the bass. And behind them was Poochie on the drums whipping the sticks about when she wasn't whacking a skin or cymbal. The Jesters were dressed for the occasion. In blacks and reds, with grays or pale greens, each of them had dresses which suggested vampiric origins. Sanguine's costume in particular was evocative of the theme.

"Type casting," observed Diamond when they first saw the costume on Sanguine.

 _They did the mash,_  
 _They did the monster mash,_  
 _The monster mash,_  
 _It was a graveyard smash,_  
 _They did the mash,_  
 _It caught on in a flash,_  
 _They did the mash,_  
 _They did the monster mash._

"Jack got them," said Diamond. "And Sapphire was so thrilled. They've been trying to get a foot in the door here and this is their first real gig in the University. With this party so big, they're bound to get a few more gigs."

"Oh that's so cool, Jack!" bubbled Rochelle. "And to invite me for the party. You guys are awesome great."

"Honey," said Diamond. "A girl has to have some fun when she's in High School and Jack and I kind of feel like we ought to sort of adopt you just in case."

"We do?" began Jack before Diamond stamped a very platform shoe upon his foot.

"So," began Jack to Rochelle, once he had recovered from the shock of Diamond's latest decision, enforced by a rapid application of feminine pain. "When we introduce you to the guys and gals tonight, is it Mabel or Rochelle?"

"If it's a meh guy or girl, Mabel's fine," mused Rochelle. "But if he's seriously awesome cute, it's Rochelle."

 _The zombies were having fun,_  
 _The party had just begun,_  
 _The guests included Wolf-man,_  
 _Dracula, and his son._

"And how will I know if he's seriously awesome cute?" asked Jack.

"Oh wow, that's right," replied Rochelle. "It's like you're all hot and heavy with Di, you can't be interested in guys at all."

"No," sighed Jack. "I guess I cant'."

 _The scene was rockin', all were digging the sounds,_  
 _Igor on chains, backed by his baying hounds,_  
 _The coffin-bangers were about to arrive,_  
 _With their vocal group, 'The Crypt-Kicker Five'._

"Hey Jack!" began Tiberius walking up. "This is like the funnest dance party I've been to since I got to college. And who's this girl who's with you?"

"JAMOO! HI! I'm ROCHELLE!" Her voice wasn't so much loud as it was intense.

"Oh?" began Tiberius. He looked at a rather cute girl dressed like an angel, with a wide eyed face which suggested that maybe angel wasn't quite what was going on in that cute little brown haired head of hers.

"Be still her beating heart," whispered Diamond to Jack with a little giggle in her voice.

"Hey, Rochelle," said Tiberius. "That's a really cool name. And wow! You have pointed ears like Diamond too. Are you in the theater with Diamond?"

"OH YEAH, and YOU ARE SO CUTE!"

"Dancer mating call," chuckled Jack in Diamond's ear.

 _They played the mash,_  
 _They played the monster mash,_  
 _The monster mash,_  
 _It was a graveyard smash,_  
 _They played the mash,_  
 _It caught on in a flash,_  
 _They played the mash,_  
 _They played the monster mash._

"I never said that to you," observed Diamond. "I don't think I've ever said you were cute."

"No, but I heard Gabrielle use it on a co-worker that Sunday when we had the hot dog roast for the paper and she had the day off. It was so out of character for her it stood out."

"Did she say he was cute?" asked Diamond. "It does sound a little out of character for her."

"Well it was more 'Hi cutie pie honey bun where have you been all my fluttering life?' but it was definitely a mating call."

"Did you let him know she was attracted to him?"

"I said something but he refused to believe me."

"That's so strange."

"Not for him it isn't. She's better off with out him. He's too dense for words and depressed routinely."

 _Out from his coffin, Drac's voice did ring,_  
 _Seems he was troubled by just one thing,_  
 _Opened the lid and shook his fist and said,_  
 _"Whatever happened to my Transylvania Twist?"_

"Hey!" laughed Tiberius. "No girl has ever called me cute before."

"No frabbin way!" exclaimed Rochelle. "I can't believe it. Well I think you are and in COLLEGE and so MATURE and let's dance!"

"Hey wait!" cried Tiberius. "I don't dance!"

"I do, and I'll teach you! Come on!"

"Wait whoa! Jack!" he cried as Rochelle began to pull him onto the dance floor with the biggest adolescent crush cheesy grin 'I'm not going to be shy about how hot I think you are' expression ever seen on the face of a teenage girl. "Don't pull me out here. I can't do this I'll look like a fool I . . ."

"I never get between Rochelle and her prey," laughed Jack. "Have fun you two!"

 _It's now the mash,_  
 _It's now the monster mash,_  
 _The monster mash,_  
 _It was a graveyard smash,_  
 _It's now the mash,_  
 _It caught on in a flash,_  
 _It's now the mash,_  
 _It's now the monster mash._

"It's so nice that we have Rochelle with a safe guy," sighed Diamond. "I was worried she'd draw the attention of the wrong kind of guy here. I'm getting suspicious about some of the jocks. And in particular how a couple of them have been looking at me and you."

"Well I'm not so much worried about Rochelle as I am for Tiber. She's probably more than he can handle."

"Don't worry darling, she knows she should wait for at least a few hours before she tries to woo hoo with him."

"My point exactly. He's got all sorts of dreams about the right girl and girlfriend . . . would Rochelle be interested in something long term or she's just looking to say she woo hoo'd a mature guy in college?"

 _Now everything's cool, Drac's a part of the band,_  
 _And my Monster Mash is the hit of the land,_  
 _For you, the living, this mash was meant too,_  
 _When you get to my door, tell them Boris sent you._

Diamond began to muse upon it. She and Jack watched Rochelle with Tiberius for a few moments. It was clear that Rochelle was going to teach him how to move, or at least try to move. And it was also clear she was putting on the fanciest moves she could. But her moves did not have the sexy edge that Diamond could employ when she was dancing with Jack.

 _Then you can mash,_  
 _Then you can monster mash,_  
 _The monster mash,_  
 _And do my graveyard smash,_  
 _Then you can mash,_  
 _You'll catch on in a flash,_  
 _Then you can mash,_  
 _Then you can monster mash._

"She's kind of holding back isn't she?" mused Jack watching her.

"I think she is," agreed Diamond. "She's definitely employing every muscle but she's not doing the usual 'now look at this part of my body' moves that both of us would do on stage. She might be . . ."

"But you've said she's of the opinion that if she doesn't woo hoo with the guy, he'll leave her for someone else."

"Oh yes, she still believes that. But she also agrees with me that you're special and you won't leave me." Diamond paused for a moment and sucked upon her lower lip with her front teeth. "She might be wondering if Tiberius, your best friend here, would be anything like you. I think that would be a draw for her."

"But she didn't know did she?"

"I think she did. Or she guessed he was your best friend. We've been talking on the phone at times. And I tell her what we've been doing and I mentioned Tiberius. Several times in fact since we three do so much together. She thought the name sounded really mature and yes, she actually told me that a mature guy would treat her right, like you were treating me."

"Oh? Really?" Jack found it amusing how swiftly and superficially Rochelle was making her decisions, but then again, she still was a teen. She might be taking care of herself in a very adult world, but she still had a lot she could learn.

"Yes," answered Diamond. "I call her every other day and we talk. She tells me what's going on in the club and I give her what advice I can. She's a little worried because she kind of always depends on either me or Gabrielle to protect her or at least retaliate should some jerk try to force her. So that's why I invited her to spend the weekend with us. She's got two days off with Spooky Day and her ordinary night off. And my bed's a double, so she'll be sleeping on the other side."

"I was wondering where she was going to sleep tonight."

"Why did you get me a double bed Jack? I sometimes wonder if you plan on surprising me with a sweep me off my feet and throw me on it and cover my pixeled body with kisses sort of thing and then . . . well you know I'd be pretty powerless to resist you."

"It was what was already in the room," answered Jack. "I just upgraded it. And yes I got the hint Di."

"Good. I'm glad you got the hint." She gave him a little "I know I'm a tease tonight" look. "But I've also been worried that Bounder would boot her when I got back or something with that new girl in my slot. But from what Rosa told Rochelle, that won't be a problem. Rosa is very clever."

"What did she do?"

"She hired a young pretty girl who had just naively walked into one of the seriously bad Twinbrook's dives, that one under the dam in the marsh, and offered her a two week stint at the Skuzz with training and then a letter of recommend from Rosa for The Mustang. So she thinks she's gotten a serious break and while The Mustang will never admit it, they'll hire any girl who's danced at The Scuzz."

"So in and out, the perfect crime," sighed Jack. "I do wish you'd give it up."

"We have a deal darling. I dance, you court, and when we're married. I dance my last dance."

"I know but I'd think by now . . . "

"I didn't see your first break up coming darling. I won't see the next one either. I just hope it won't happen."

"Diamond . . . I was a fool and I should have come in yelling like you said and . . ."

"Thank you, thank you," said Sapphire over the mic as the Jesters wrapped up the instrumental of the song. "That was The Monster Mash by Bobby Pickett, an oldie but goodie and always perfect for Spooky Day. And now, we have slow dance for you couples out there. Especially the guy who made this gig possible; Jack, and his lovely girlfriend; Diamond."

Jack struggled not to blush.

Aymui flipped a switch and the piano sounded like violins and Sapphire just picked up the mike and began to sing There For You, swaying to the melody.

Suddenly Diamond was holding on to him tightly.

"Dance with me Jack, take me back to the first time," she whispered.

And Jack began to move her about the floor. Right past Tiberius who was dealing with a Rochelle who was pretty much in a full arm around lock with her face as flat against his chest as was possible. There was a very serene smile upon her as well.

"What do I do with her?" mouthed Tiberius. He was in that classic male dilemma. He wasn't sure why this girl had just latched on to him, he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do, he didn't think it was necessarily a good thing she was coming on to him this fast, but there was this part of him which was saying that it wasn't necessarily a bad thing and why should he stop?

"Just love her," replied Jack mouthing back.

He twirled Diamond around and looked briefly at the blissful expression on her face.

"Love her?" mouthed Tiberius. "Are you serious?"

"She really needs someone to do it," mouthed Jack back. "Trust me, she's a Diamond in the rough." He pointed to the white hair of his beloved.

"Whoa!" mused Tiberius. "Foursome tomorrow then? Keith Komics? and Sim Burger?"

Jack nodded.

Diamond put her head on his shoulder.

"My darling Jack," she whispered softly. "What are you doing with Tiber?"

"Making sure Rochelle falls in love with him," he whispered back.

"You're such a sweetie," she replied. "But given his background and hers?"

"She's giving it up when she goes to college," answered Jack. "Tiber will be in college for a few years yet. He's got a few more degrees he needs to finish because his goal is to teach here. She'll be ready for him and capable of being honest when he's ready. And I'll work him into the idea. Don't worry."

The song ended, there was a bit more applause, and then Tiberius gently pried Rochelle off with a little kiss on the forehead and said, "Gotta confer with Jack on a date between him and Diamond and us." That did the trick. She dashed off to tell Diamond all.

Tiber and Jack were over at the wet bar. Sapphire was leading the Jesters in some background music for a break from the dancing.

"Oh Di he's so mega awesome! He's asking me out for a foursome with you and Jack it'll be so cool and MATURE."

Diamond smiled. Something seemed to be working. Then Paris Vanderbuilt came up.

"Hey Di?" she said. "Gotta moment? There's some stuff we need to talk about tomorrow's game now that we've done midterms. And we kind of need to do it out of this noise.

"Okay Paris," agreed Diamond. "Wanna come Rochelle or you want to hang out with Jack and Tiber?"

"Cheerleader stuff," inserted Paris. "We don't need your kid friend."

"I'm one of the best Cheerleaders you'll ever see," suggested Rochelle. "I've had a lot of guys cheer me on." For some reason, she felt just a little belligerent. Of course being called a kid tended to do that to her. She knew she was a bit less of a kid than most of her peers.

Paris looked at her, and frowned.

"You know?" She said. "I think I believe you. Come on then. Seeing as your Diamond's friend. It should come as no surprise that you know how to make 'em cheer."

Paris walked forward and up the stairs while Diamond and Rochelle looked quizzically at each other while they followed. Something wasn't making sense.

The hallway was somewhat dark and the room that Paris opened the door to was also a bit dark. "All in," she said.

Diamond walked in and began to look for the switch when the light went suddenly on and the door slammed shut behind her.

Rochelle, just behind Diamond, found her collar being yanked back as the door slammed shut in front of her.

"You will be quiet you little tramp. Or you're going to be in trouble for underage drinking, got it?" was Paris's warning. She was holding her hand over Rochelle's mouth. Rochelle's eyes began to dart. She was terrified for Diamond. She was angry. But like any other dancer, she knew she had to play for time to know just what she was up against.

Diamond was stunned for a moment. The sudden arrival of light, coupled with the very large enlarged photo on the wall she was facing had that impact. It was of her on the stage, holding her arms out. They were holding two very billowy feathers, which had, a second before the flash, been covering her body, albeit barely. Probably one of Enrico's shots. He really was good at capturing her at her . . . shall we say, most photogenic?

"Yeah stripper girl, we know who you are, and the way we see it, you owe us for that little game at last night's party."

Terrified, but knowing she had to see what it was she was up against she turned. It was only one jock, but it was Harold Assage. He was leaning against the door. He had been staring at her and Jack for at least the last day. And he was one of the biggest jocks on campus. Not in terms of status but in strength. It couldn't have been a worse choice for her. Not that she had any hope of a physical victory, but she could have resisted long enough to scream for help and expect it to arrive. But Harold cut that time down to almost nothing.

"What you see in that Nerd boy we don't get. But at this point, we don't care. You didn't have to enter that contest, and you could have just said no, but you didn't stripper girl. You played us. And now, you have a choice. You either perform, your own way, or my own way."

He reached across the door to a table. It had two switches. One started a video camera. The other started a dancing beat.

"What's it going to be?"

Diamond began to swing her hips and twirl. She grinned and played with the hem of her hat.

Outside, Rochelle heard the music. She didn't need to guess what was happening. Her eye's narrowed, but Paris still covered her mouth.

"I've always been a stupid girl," Diamond sighed. "I really wasn't thinking. It just seemed to be such a fun little prank. Looks like the joke is on me now. So I guess I had better take my medicine. Why don't you sit, Harold. I work better with a sitting customer." She flipped her hat off and into the corner. Holding up one of her gloved hands, she ran her teeth over her finger, suggesting that if he sat, she'd start to pull it off.

'Draw him in," thought Rochelle. "Get him lazy. Let him think you're helpless. That all you can do is lose your clothes. Pull the glove off. I know you can do it . . . nice and slow, just a little bite and tug. Don't forget the tip fantasy."

Diamond was gently tugging a second finger of her lace glove loose. Walked right to his side, and pulled out a chair and put in just behind him. Rolling her hips, she gently hooked her finger around his t-shirt collar and gently led him just a foot or two forward. Then she held her hand in front of his eyes, just about six inches, and began to tug the glove off.

"Get him to sit," thought Rochelle. "Get him to sit."

The glove flew onto the top of the hat. She began to work the next glove. She swung to the side, and kicked the chair a bit more forward.

The second glove came off. It joined the pile. Then she gave him a kiss, holding his collar a bit more and pulled him forward.

"I really was a bad girl," she whispered. "So I'm going to make it up to you special. And the camera is running so all your friends are going to know you're telling no lies."

The chair was right behind him with a second little kick. Then she gently nudged him with her hands and he sat with a flop.

"He's down now, let the tipping begin," thought Rochelle. "Keep smiling girl. We get one like him all the time. You're on the stage. He can't touch you on the stage. Stay on the stage. He can't get to you there."

Her foot slammed into the lip of the chair, right between his legs. He jumped, but she had aimed it perfectly. He had barely felt the brush of her heel upon his pant's legs. She was pulling up the ruffles of her skirt. There was a garter right up at the top of her thigh which she apparently was using to hold up her white sheer pure silk stockings. She snapped it with a finger.

"A thousand simol, tip," she whispered. "I guess I had better start paying my way." Turning, she pulled down the zipper of her dress. He saw that zipper drop, slowly. Inch by inch. He heard the little zipper rasping as it came down. And he saw the grey of her back, and the white strap of her bra.

Harold was getting quite mesmerized. She really was the hottest dark elven dancer in The Scuzz.

The foot slammed into the lip of the chair again. He had parted his legs a bit more. Once again, her skirt was hiked up and once again her garter was snapped.

"Oh, baby," she said. "Another thousand? I really need to show my gratitude now."

She slid the shoulders of her dress off and began to twirl as it began to descend.

Rochelle was outside nodding her head. "That's it girl. It's all part of the show. You're having fun. Let him think you are really living out a fantasy. Tell him he's turning you on."

"I've always had this little fantasy," Diamond whispered. "I'm trapped, and the only way I can escape, is to take off all my clothes . . . I'm thinking it's coming true. Don't you? Do you think this will count as a woo hoo dare if we . . . you know . . . really get to like each other?"

Harold's mouth was hanging slightly open. He's seen strippers. But he'd never seen one who really knew how to put on a show which drew in all the elements of strip-tease from the past century.

Her foot slammed down on the chair again. She hiked up the skirts once again. And again the garter was snapped.

"Oh my, yet another thousand. Well I guess you had better start seeing the treasures I have," she said with a wink.

The skirt started to slid over her hips and fell to a flop on the floor.

"Freed up now," thought Rochelle. "You're at your full mobility. And he's totally into it."

"Ready for another tip, Harold?" suggested Diamond. "Ready to persuade me to drop my bra? Or do you want to cut to the chase and get a really nice view a little lower down. If you're in the mood to save the best for last, that's what I'll do you know. Slide my panties down my really long legs. And starting with my hips, you'll see white, all the way down."

Harold's legs were making all the room she needed.

And her heeled foot came down. Hard. But a little higher than Harold had expected. And a little further in than he would have liked.

And it really hurt.

Illusion. It's all about Illusion

"JACK!" she screamed dashing around him and yanking the door open. "JACK!"

You really can't be to careful when you hold a dancer down. Especially if you're a woman. Even a physically fit women. Dancers are not the sorts to hesitate to use what ever they have at their disposal, especially those very nice smiles they pay dentists thousands to strengthen. Biting hurts. Especially when she's not afraid to taste your blood.

"TIBERIUS!" screamed Rochelle.

The two girls ran down the hall way for the stairs. Paris, was gritting her teeth and panicking because one of her fingers felt nearly bitten off. It wasn't, but Rochelle had been able to pinch the skin with her teeth very hard and break through.

But Harold had been played again. And all he saw was rage.

Slamming out of that room, still staggering from the pain, he gave chase. The girls, screaming, and crying, were down the stairs and into the crowd.

"What the garner frash?" shouted Jack as he came forward.

"Jack Jack Jack!" she cried. "He was horrible! He was ugly! He threatened me! She threatened Rochelle."

And like a charging bull, Harold was plowing through the crowd right at them.

"Dragon!" shouted Jack. "You'll not have her!" and stood in front.

For about a second at most. Harold threw him to the side like a rag doll.

And he lunged for Diamond while she ducked under the buffet table. Harold was confused by this maneuver for a moment and then Jack and Tiberius were both on top of him.

It was all very heroic. And entirely ineffective because Harold really was rather strong. He threw Tiberius off first and he went crashing into Poochie's drum set. There was a crashing of cymbals as they flew and then Jack was thrown against a wall which shuddered on his impact.

"Where's that stripper bitch!" shouted Harold. He looked. There she was, on the other side of the table. Wide eyed and terrified. She was hard to miss. Not only was she in her underwear, but her grey skin really stood out.

Diamond had some knowledge of magic. But nothing really effective save fire and frost blast spells. She had played with magic, but she had never really learned it. Her threats had always been based upon reputation. She tried something but he charged anyway. She panicked and leaped to the side, vaulting back over the buffet table while Harold just lifted it and threw it out of the way. He charged again and then ran into Jack who once again was leaping to the rescue of Diamond.

"I'm gonna get bones broken this time," he groaned to himself.

Harold was sick of Jack's efforts. He found them pathetic and distracting from the punishment he really wanted to inflict upon a woman who had played him one time too many. Grabbing Jack by the throat, he threw him against the wall and began to beat him mercilessly. Jack refused to give up, He threw himself into the fight with everything he had. Which really wasn't enough. It was almost comical the way he was thrown about by Harold.

But Diamond could only look at Jack and weep. She knew she needed to run, but she couldn't leave him. Not when he was suffering so trying to defend her.

Suddenly, there was a werewolf on Harold. A rather red haired werewolf who was howling something about a ruined set of drums. She was biting and clawing and then an Indian woman, totally dressed for the part, leaped in with a very nice pair . . . of fangs. And she was biting.

The werewolf found herself thrown first. She bounced and lay stunned in a corner. Then the vampire found that while the mouth could hold one arm in a vise, the other arm was free to punch her face repeatedly.

He really was that strong.

Sanguine now was staggering back, her face swollen from repeated punches on the nose and eyes. And Jack once again lunged.

Harold had lost the last of his control. This nerd, this weak pathetic loser nerd, who beyond all comprehension had this really beautiful exotic girlfriend, was going to be beaten until he had lost all consciousness. And Jack knew he had to fight until that happened.

Because some dragons are harder to slay than others.

Tiberius watched from the side, blood running down his face from his meeting with the cymbals. Rochelle dabbing it with all the napkins she could grab. She kept telling him it was alright and he had been so brave but he was hurt and needed her ministrations.

"I'm the best nurse you'll ever have," she insisted. Given her dancing career, there were several ways you could interpret that statement. It would have been comical if Jack hadn't been bleeding so badly by that point.

Jack did not remember the last of the fight. He did not remember other jocks leaping upon Harold and dragging him off, holding him down for the campus police. He did not remember Diamond's tears dropping upon his face or the hands of Tiber helping him up to the room.

He only remembered waking up, in the very early morning, in Diamond's dorm room bed. Her, holding him tight. He, hurting all over.

"I guess we're sleeping together," he mused in his pain. "But I suppose this kind of doesn't count."

Some time in the morning, Tiberius and Rochelle came in.

"Guess it won't be a foursome after all, sighed Tiber.

"Go have fun, Tiber," suggested Diamond. She looked at Jack with the most loving gaze he had never seen. "Show Rochelle the campus. Tell her all the fun things you can do. She's coming here in two years. She has been saving. Working very hard. Her parents are dead you see and she's had to earn her own money the whole way."

"Wow!" gasped Tiber. "Rochelle, you are really a take charge kind of girl you know that?"

"Thanks," she said. She kind of leaned against him. She looked at Jack as well.

"Tiber?" she said with one of those flirty teen age impossible to answer questions. "If he had been coming for me, would you have fought as hard as Jack?"

Tiberius looked for a moment uncertain.

"Love her," mouthed Jack.

"Rochelle," he said with more air than voice. "I hope I would have the courage to try."

Rochelle looked just a little disappointed. It would take her a few years to appreciate the honesty and self-knowledge in such an answer. But they walked out of the room, arm in arm.

"Jack," whispered Diamond. "I'm so proud of you. You won you know. You beat him."

"Frabbit Di, darling, don't lie to me. That's what made it messy between us."

"It's not a lie!" she snapped. Almost angry, but not at him, but more out of frustration. "Jack, he never touched me. He never got to me. You made him so angry he focused entirely on you until the nicer guys in the Jocks took him down. Until the campus police dragged him off. Jack, that's winning. Darling, you saved me from him. You didn't lose. You accomplished what you fought for. He failed to get me to strip. He failed to get me to strip for the camera, and then he failed to avenge himself on me when I kicked him where his jock strap should have been."

Jack just closed his eyes for a second. And in that brief eye closing, he thought he saw a dead dragon. He opened them again. Diamond was still there.

"I'll take care of you all weekend darling. My dear darling Jack. I'll even be your fantasy nurse if you like. I have a really sexy costume I can get quickly. Would you like that?"

Jack sighed. "You can be such a tease," he groaned. "Am I right in guessing you're making this offer because you suspect that I'm in to much pain to either stop you, or actually do something about it?

"It's an old joke Rosa taught me to do," smiled Diamond. "I step out onto the stage, in a little tux outfit, and make some jokes, as if I'm really a stand up comic, and then another dancer in her panties runs out from behind the curtain shouting and waving her arms while she's being chased by the DJ. They run around me a couple of times and then back behind the curtain. And I say, "By the time he catches her, he'll be too tired."

"How about an old joke, sir," recalled Jack. "One of those that never fail to get a laugh."

"Where's that coming from?" asked Diamond. "You are saying it as if it's important."

"Aristophanes," sighed Jack. "An old greek comic from over two thousand years ago."

He slept for a bit, then later in the afternoon she came back with a report.

"It's from the university. It's our mid-term scores."

"Oh?" He asked.

"You have 98, that's good isn't it?"

Jack sighed. "I was working my tail off for 100, but it'll do."

"Jack? Is 89 good?"

"Wha?"

"I scored 89."

"How Diamond, could you have partied every single night, never studied, never taken notes, and yet scored an 89 on the test?"

"Jack, you know I don't do math very well."


	14. Chapter 14 - Gentle Snowfalls

**Gentle Snowfalls**

Jack looked at the clock by his desk. He looked to his right. The great picture windows opened up to the bay and flakes of snow glinted off the house lights as they fell from the sky. It had been a few days since they had gotten back from their first semester in college. The second week had gone by without any real incident. Diamond rose up the ranks in Jock influence and thew another party at the end of the term. That one proved so successful that folks came to a consensual understanding that if they wanted to be invited to Diamond's next big soiree, there would be some amnesia regarding her off college career. Jack had finished with a 4.0. And while Diamond did ask him what the 3.25 meant, all he could do was shake his head and mutter something about injustice in the world. But he did shortly thereafter relent and let her know she had passed the semester. She was happy about that.

Rochelle and Tiber were visiting each other in google video chat rooms. Tiberius had put two and two together after the brawl and figured out just how Rochelle was involved. Harold had made no secret that Diamond was a dancer in the middle of that party. Yelling out job descriptions with colorful language tends to do that. But Jack and he had a long talk about it and Tiber decided that if Jack thought Rochelle was worth the effort, he could deal with her present circumstances. After all, while Diamond was clearly a handful, Tiber could see she was totally into being Jack's girlfriend come college crises or computer crash. Rochelle was thrilled of course that Tiber wanted her to be his girlfriend. She bragged about her mature college boyfriend in High School constantly. Given she was the shy frumpy mouse who hid behind locker doors, most of the kids presumed she was just giving them a load of BS.

Then Tiberius visited the Islands for Winter Break and showed up in her Study Hall to do a demonstration on computer science and asked his girlfriend to assist. The smug look on Rochelle's face was worth the price of admission. But the expressions of that study hall class looking at this professionally dressed computer genius standing next to little miss frumpy girl in her ratty sweatshirt while giving her a gentle affectionate hug was priceless.

"Jamoo!" Jack sighed. "It's three and I still can't figure out how to work this chapter out. Well at least tomorrow is Tuesday. I'm off work. I can sleep in. And Diamond will be sleeping in as well. So . . ."

There was the opening of a door down stairs.

"She's back from work," he thought. "I don't think I've ever been up this late to see her come back."

"Hi Di!" he called. "How's my little misty elf?"

"Jack?" came her voice quietly. "Darling?"

He heard her steps up the staircase and turned to see her.

She looked so exotic. He'd never seen her face like that before. She had her winter coat on, but her stage make up was still intact.

"Come here," he asked.

"He's just looking at my face again," she thought. "He's always looking at my face. He's always been so different."

She gently walked up to him.

Her face was a very gentle grey. The little mole wasn't there, and her cheeks in particular seemed way more glowing and healthy than he could recall. They were just a tad deeper in shade yet they blended with her profile making it seem more soft and rather kissable. Her lips had a certain gloss to them and seemed fuller and more inviting. And there were little black curls around her eyes while above her eyes was the deepest reddish rogue, gently flecked with silver, that he had ever seen.

"Di girl?" he said. "Did some geek photoshop your face when I wasn't looking."

She began to giggle.

This is my stage makeup, darling," she said.

He sighed.

"Darling?"

"You just look so magical. So different. It's kind of surprising, and shocking, and I like it and I hate it."

"What's to hate about it?" She was sitting on the balls of her feet, her legs bent fully so she could look into his face. That surprised her.

"I've gotten so used to seeing you just . . . just you. I don't think I've ever seen you fully made up like you are. So it looks so beautiful, and then it reminds me what you are wearing it for."

"Some day darling," she whispered. "It will only be on for you. Until then, I gotta do what I gotta so. But for this moment? Let's pretend it's just for you that I've got it on."

She leaned in and held his head in her hands while she kissed him for a moment. "My darling, handsome, oh so loving Jack," she whispered. "I love you forever." Then she looked at him. She sighed and smiled. Her happy face was shining through. Then, he saw a little twinkle in her eyes.

"Ayumi performed with me tonight," she said. "The crowd loved it."

"What? Ayumi? She danced with you?! Why? She's such a sweetie! Jamoo she didn't do this for cake did she?"

"Darling don't be silly, she's a pianist, not a dancer. It's one of Rosa's old jokes, the ones that never fail to get a laugh."

"What happened? Why was Ayumi on stage?"

"Well darling it's like this. Cocoa heats the audience up with a cave girl outfit, lots of wild skins that just keep getting briefer and briefer until she runs out of them. And then the DJ announces that we will now have a classical interlude. Something to cool everyone down. That is when Rochelle and Misty, one of the new dancers, carries out the electric keyboard. Ayumi flutters in. Removes her hat and puts it on the piano, and of course the audience thinks her kimono's going to go shortly. But she wiggles her fingers, and begins this nice gentle melody which starts to really bore the guys to tears."

"That must have been quite frustrating for her," suggested Jack. He couldn't help but feel sorry for her. He suspected the audience was going to be the sort that would be impatient quickly.

"You would think so," replied Diamond. She got back up again, removed her coat, and put it on the desk behind her. She was in a thick white fuzzy sweater and blue jeans which were tucked into her black calf boots. "But she's a professional. She simply varied the melody this way and that and smiled sweetly to the audience. They however, got more and more restless and bored and started to grumble just a little when she thought it would be smart to jazz it up a bit." Diamond smiled. "And suddenly they all started to cheer and clap and shout."

Diamond proceeded to swagger across the floor in front of Jack, turned around, and pantomimed pulling a zipper down behind her.

"I take it you were behind her when this happened?"

"Hmmm, could be," suggested Diamond. "And Ayumi cried out 'Oh, I knew I could reach you with my beautiful music if I tried! Do you want to hear more?' Well of course they wanted to hear more, so they cheered and she let loose with a really razzmatazz melody."

Diamond's hands slid invisible shoulder straps off of her and she twirled and then seemed to step out of something. She did a very saucy walk in a circle and stopped while blowing a kiss.

"And Ayumi then said, 'I'm so glad you are music lovers. It's so hard to find an appreciate audience.' She let loose with an even racier bit of melody."

Diamond turned her back to Jack, and seemed to be unfastening something in the small of her back. She flicked her fingers on her shoulders, seemed to toss something then turned, covering the front of her sweater with her arms. She kinked her right leg, threw one arm up while the other remained covering, then she did a twirl and ended with both arms over her head.

"'I'm so glad you loved this number,' cried Ayumi. 'It's a real hot one I picked up in France! Are you ready for another one?' Well of course the crowd was more than ready for what happened next."

Diamond pulled on her fingers with her teeth, and seemed to be sliding something off her arms. She held the items aloft over her head and then gave them a twirl before she tossed them off into space.

"'Oh music is so honest and open isn't it?' cried Ayumi. 'Let me play my last piece. It removes all the stops and hides nothing!'"

Diamond, swaying her hips to an invisible beat, seemed to unfasten something on her right hip, then turning with her back to Jack, seemed to unfasten something on her other hip, and then tossed that little invisible nothing off into the air and then turned back to face him with a saucy smile. She proceeded to do a few more twirls and rolls.

"By this time of course," she observed. "The crowd was totally into Ayumi's music."

"You don't say," observed Jack. He had to admit that the pantomime had been rather seductive in spite of the fact that she was still standing there in sweater, blue jeans, and calf boots. But then again, she was supposed to be the best in the biz.

"Oh Jack, you should have heard them. Ayumi was blowing them kisses and crying out, 'You love me! You really love me! I'm so happy! You want me to come back and play again?' Well of course they were totally into the idea by that point."

"And you?"

"I just posed sweetly," answered Diamond, She put her finger on her chin and tilted her head just a little with an innocent grin. "Then I exited while Ayumi was still getting her kisses to the audience blown. After she exited. Misty and Rochelle removed the piano and another dancer named Ashley sauntered out in a western cowgirl outfit and the boys got some country western. Naturally it was raining."

"And did Ayumi ever suspect?"

"Oh darling that's the whole point of the joke. But to be perfectly frank, she knew exactly what was going on behind her. She had to, otherwise she would not have known how to time the pieces. She's very good. You have to push the audience's impatience to the point that when the real dancer does come out, they are thrilled. That's the job of the pianist. She has to be able to perfectly read the audience or they either fail to get excited and cheer, or they get so bored they start to throw things. And the patter has to sound totally spontaneous, while at the same time be naive yet sufficiently suggestive to draw the audience's attention back to the dancer. And you know how important it is for me to be the center of attention." She gave him a saucy wink and blew him a kiss. "It's a lot of fun to perform because while the crowd thinks Ayumi is totally clueless, it's them that don't know the full story."

She paused. "Rosa told us that back in the early days of the poor theater, the dancer would be down to bra and g-string, and then walk in front of the musician and he would whip out a bottle of seltzer water from behind his instrument and hit her in the tush with a stream of it. But these days that would turn the audience off because they don't appreciate slapstick anymore. And they don't make seltzer water canisters these days, let alone the bottles needed to shoot the water out in a long stream. And besides, the audience would feel cheated because I would still be wearing things. So she has adjusted it." She paused. "And yes Jack, we had a cup cake for her in the dressing room just because. But she also got paid five hundred."

"Nice payment," mused Jack.

"Well of course. It was a one time thing but it'll be all over the Facebook page in the morning with all the guys talking about it. Piles more will want to come. Little tricks like that make the club more attractive. Guys may not realize it, but they really like the softer touch. The first lesson Rosa told each and every one of us was this; they're not there to see you pixeled. They are there to see you Get pixeled, even when they don't realize it. And that makes all the difference."

"Really?" observed Jack.

"Honey, if I came out there wearing nothing, they'd watch, but they'd get bored quickly enough. It wouldn't matter how good my body was. And mine's the best so I know what Rosa said was true. It's the fact that I show up in a costume. A costume that may be sexy, ordinary, fantasy, formal, it doesn't matter. As long as it looks good on me. And then I dance it off. You never just unbutton a button, you do it to the beat. It's really kind of tricky to do it right. That's what entertains them. That's what excites them. It's crazy. But that was why I was able to get Harold to drop his guard, so I could put my foot in."

"So there really is an artistic component then isn't it."

"Very much so," she sighed. "It's the one of the few things about it that you can be proud of. It's the thing that makes it bearable when you're scrubbing off your leg's and behind because there was some Ten Year Fraternity Convention in the chairs."

"An artistic drug that makes your skin crawl. If I could only persuade you to give it up . . ."

"I love hearing you say that, Jack. I really do. But you yourself said, 'Love is keeping your promises.'"

She looked at him for a moment. It was a happy smile she was giving him. Walking over, she gave him a slightly romantic kiss and then said, "Don't stay up too late dear, we need to pick out our snowflake day tree tomorrow for the gift giving party." And she walked back downstairs.

Jack looked at the computer. He had totally lost all ideas as to where he wanted to take this chapter now.

"And this is how Xanadu failed to be finished," he sighed.

* * *

 _Oh the weather outside is frightful,_  
 _But the fire is so delightful,_  
 _And since we've no place to go,_  
 _Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!_

Sapphire was singing along with the karaoke machine while Diamond was dancing about her in a cute little Santa outfit. The deep red skirt was hemmed with white puff, she had a white pullover on top with a deep red jacket pulled over that, it too puffed on the edges. And a little Santa hat on top.

 _It doesn't show signs of stopping,_  
 _And I've bought some corn for popping,_  
 _The lights are turned way down low,_  
 _Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!_

Diamond twirled around Sapphire who winked at her as she passed. Rochelle leaned against Tiberius and closed her eyes contentedly for a moment while Jack sat on the other side, not sure if he should be enjoying Sapphire's rendition of a traditional Snowflake day song more or Diamond's very cutie pie snuggle bunny dancing. It was little hops on the feet, twirls and gentle finger holds upon the hem of the skirt, oozing out such wholesome homogenous warm milk and cookies that folks were beginning to chuckle because there was no one in the party who was even remotely in the dark as to what Diamond was more than capable of doing with the concept of 'interpretive' dance, even with something as sentimental as Let It Snow!.

 _When we finally kiss goodnight,_  
 _How I'll hate going out in the storm!_  
 _But if you'll really hold me tight,_  
 _All the way home I'll be warm._

Gabrielle flitted over to where Ayumi was busy finished up a slice of cake and offered her another plate of it. Ayumi managed to nod her head vigorously, since her mouth was still full of the last bite and took the plate and gave it the most full expression of love she could muster. Cocoa was sitting on the other side of her wondering how such a little fairy could pack so much cake into that frame of hers.

 _The fire is slowly dying,_  
 _And, my dear, we're still goodbying,_  
 _But as long as you love me so,_  
 _Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!_

 _Let It Snow!_  
 _Let It Snow!_  
 _Let It Snow!_

Diamond did a set of twirls and landed with a plop into Jack's lap. She looked into his eyes for a moment.

"Darling," she said softly. "Happy first Snowflake day to us." And she kissed him.

There was a flash of camera while everyone else applauded Sapphire.

"Good one man," suggested Enrico. "You two are really so for each other."

"Enrico," sighed Jack. "It's a party, not work, why do you insist on taking all these shots?"

"Hey man," he said. "The best shots are when you're used to the cameraman, and like, everyone knows you're all gonna get married some day. I'm making my album for you kay?"

"Oh alright," sighed Jack. "So long as Diamond isn't doing any 'hot dancer moves' when you're shooting those."

"No man," laughed Enrico. "That's the Wedding Night album."

Jack was blushing furiously.

"Don't you want your wife in a centerfold album just for you," teased Diamond.

"Okay!" cried Cocoa leaping up and pulling out a tube of lipstick, she held it up to Jack's face.

"What are you doing?"

"Redder than rose dawn!" she howled.

"Don't you even think of doing that," suggested Tiberius under his voice.

"Too late," replied Rochelle. "I've got it filed away."

The houseboat had turned out to be too small for the Gift Exchange party that Diamond was planning, so they moved it to Trader Rick's, the new English Tudor style inn which was across from Cruzita's Diner. With some of the most luxurious bedrooms upstairs, its was one of those romantic little inns that just seemed perfect for the Islands, in spite of it's style which suggested a more pastoral countryside and not swaying palm fronds and the smell of rotting mangrove leaves. But it's lounge was perfect for Snowflake Day. Two grand wood lined fireplaces with stocked and bartended juice bar, lots of booths and plenty of room for karaoke by Sapphire.

"So when are we getting to open up the swag?" cried Cocoa.

"Oh I don't know," answered Diamond. "Has everyone had enough to drink?"

There were huzzahs and raised glassed.

"And enough to eat?"

"Mmph mmph mmph!' cried Ayumi waving her fork. She resumed on what was left of the cake slice on her plate.

"Then," began Diamond, "This first gift is from us to Rochelle. She handed Rochelle a small thin box. Rochelle, curious, pulled off the ribbon lifted up the lid and pulled out a sheet of tri-folded paper. This stunned her for a moment, then she unfolded the paper and her eyes went wide, and then a little teary.

"A . . . a . . . A 2500 simoleon scholarship to Simtopia University!" she cried. She ran over and gave Diamond a hug. "Oh, Thank You, Thank You, Thank You." She paused to dab her tears. "This is the best present ever!"

And that began to set the tone for the gifts.

"Oh this is wonderful!" cried Gabrelle. "Look everyone! My own fairy castle! I can keep it in the dressing room and I won't have to go back to a Rabbit Hole!"

Diamond got another hug.

"Whoa! Poochie!" Look what we got!" cried Cocoa. "Two dozen steak dinners each at Little Corsican!"

"Eat it hot! Eat it raw! Eat it on the floor, yeah!" they cheered as they pumped their fists and marched in a little circle chanting.

"Oh this is like so great!" cried Trey holding up a thick red leather bound gold trimmed with silk ribbon book marked edition of The Lord of the Swings. "Thanks Jack. This is the most awesome gift ever!"

"I got filters!" cried Enrico. "Now I can do that fuzzy edge effect for each shot!"

Then Diamond got a small envelope from Jack. She was somewhat uncertain, but she opened up the envelope and pulled out two airplane tickets.

"We're going to China in two days," he said. "Just the two of us. I've got research I need to do there, but you'll be able to see all the sights . . ."

"Jack Fearthegn if you think for one moment I'm going to let you read books in some travel hotel while I have to walk around in the shops and temples, dressed in hot little adventure shorts of course, you have got a lot to learn about what you do with the women who loves you!" she said. But she hugged him anyway. "It's going to be fun," she whispered. "I'll see to that."

And the pile of presents slowly got smaller and smaller. Finally, there was only one big present left.

"Diamond?" asked Jack. "Why don't you see who's it for."

He gave Tiberius a wink who chuckled back.

"What are you doing that for?" asked Rochelle.

"Sworn to secrecy," replied Tiberius.

"I'll give you a kiss," she offered.

"Nope."

"I'll let you help me get ready for bed," she suggested.

"Simmer down Miss Mabel, my word is my bond," replied Tiberius.

"Oh I hate it when you behave yourself," she sighed.

"No you don't," he said.

Diamond looked at the tag. "It's for me," she said. "But there's no indication who's it from."

"Better open it and find out Diamond," suggested Tiberius.

"You're not going to tell me first?" whispered Rochelle. "I thought you loved me!"

Diamond opened up the lid and inside, found another box.

"Looks like this present knows how to tease a little," suggested Cocoa with a bit of suggestive growl in her voice.

There was another present box inside of that one. And then another present box inside of that. Now Diamond was holding a present about the size of a shoe box.

"You're going to have to tip it now," suggested Cocoa. "Ya gotta tip the teaser, it's father never loved it you know."

"I hate suspense," grumbled Rochelle. "And I'm never speaking to you again," she said to Tiberius. Then she eek'd and squeaked and wiggled while he gave her a few tickles.

Diamond opened the box and pulled out a piece of paper. She opened it, read it, and looked at Jack totally baffled.

"It says I have to ask you what you have in your . . . pocketses?"

Trey was grinning from ear to ear. He got it, all the way down.

Jack stood up, and reached into his jacket pocket.

"You don't want three guesses?" he asked.

"Yes," grinned Trey. "That is simply so awesome clever."

"What have you got Jack?" she asked. She remained mystified.

Jack pulled out a small box, and opened it. Inside was a diamond ring. He got on his knees and presented it to her.

Her eyes went wide. Her mouth went open. Her hands covered her mouth. She did a sudden gasp of breath. And tears began to dribble down her cheeks.

"Oh . . . Jack . . . Oh . . . Jack . . . OH, JACK! YES!"

She took the ring, she slipped it on her finger, she looked at him with that curious smile that suggested a struggle between laughter and crying.

That was Jack's cue to stand up rapidly and brace himself.

"PON CHEE!"

He staggered but remained on his feet. Everyone was cheering and clapping. Gabrielle was crying and Rochelle was looking at her ring finger and then at Tiberius. Cocoa was just shaking her head.

Sapphire hugged Diamond. Ayumi hugged Diamond. Poochie hugged Diamond. Enrico was hugging Jack, Trey was hugging Jack. Tiberius was not only hugging but giving him manly back slaps, and Sanguine tried to slip in and bite his neck in all the fellowship. In short everyone was congratulating the two of them.

"I'm engaged!" she shouted. She ran outside into the street, into the swirling snow. "I'm Going To Be Married!" she cried into the sky throwing her hands up. And then she hugged herself. Then she decided it was cold outside and scurried back in while drinks were being passed around and toasts were being offered.

"So when are you doing it, man?" asked Enrico.

"Don't know yet," answered Jack. "But I wanted to make the next step for Diamond's sake. It means so much to her."

And it did, she was flashing her ring all over the place to everyone. Her front teeth were over her lower lip and she was dancing little hops. Then she would turn to look at Jack and give him the most loving looks she could muster.

"He doesn't do anything by halves," observed Cocoa looking at it. "Heh. And he still hasn't slept with you yet. This is . . ." She shook her head. "Making my head hurt it's so screwy."

Tiberius noted that Rochelle was looking at her ring finger rather pointedly in front of him.

"You have to graduate first."

"That'll be forever," she argued. "I could be pregnant by then."

"I think that would take a little assistance on my part," countered Tiberius.

"I've not pulled out all my dancer tricks yet," she smugly retorted. "You're no where near safe. You know what they say about the libido of teen age girls you know."

"Do you even know what that means, Miss Mabel?"

"It's has to do with woo hoo and that's all I need to know, Tiger Tiber."

Gabrielle had put her fairy castle down and she and Ayumi popped into little baby blue and turquoise lights and flitted in. No doubt to talk about the furnishings. It was always more fun to do it with a buddy. And besides, there was pollen punch in there somewhere, they were both sure of it.

"Hey Diamond," began Trey.

Diamond turned to him.

"I guess this means you'll be giving up dancing?"

"Not just yet," she sighed. "But I'm really tempted right about now."

"Gonna miss you," suggested Trey.

"Are you trying to sound like a sweetie or pervert?" queried Diamond.

Trey started. Diamond nodded and seemed to regret her comment. "Trey," she added. "Sorry. I just . . . well . . . I've seen you a lot and you've seen all of me a lot and . . ."

"Diamond," sighed Trey. "I can't say that I've always respected you. But the more I've gotten to know you, it's become harder to just . . . watch you up there. You've become . . . more . . . real to me. And on one hand I really like watching you perform because part of me is going, 'Hey I know that hot little number. She even comes into the office while Jack and I are working out the news reports.' But the other part of me is going 'hey, she's the girl who happens to love your best library buddy and top co-worker. The one who brings him his favorite lunches and just looks so happy at him while he eats them.' It's really kind of freaking me out at times because up on that stage you're larger than life and so frabbin sexy and right now, you're just my best friend's cute fiancé. Just the same, I am going to miss you because you were so beautiful up there. And on the other hand, I'm going to be kind of glad I won't be seeing you any more up there because you're going to be grilling hot dogs on a grill in blue jeans next summer on your houseboat and I'm going to have to quit looking at your tush and remember you're not wearing a little nothing under it. Or worse, remember when there wasn't even a little nothing on it. And of course Jack and I will be reading a new book out loud to each other, or he'll let me proof another chapter with him."

Diamond sighed. "Memories," she mused. "Yeah, I'm going to be looking at you sitting on that picnic table jogging my little baby boy on your knees telling him that you're his favorite uncle Trey, and then I'll remember slamming a leg down right next to you and watching you very politely slip a bill into my garter. And Trey, I really appreciate the fact that you try not to touch me when you do it." She smirked. "And the money was nice too."

"I'm glad I've done something you've liked," groaned Trey.

"Oh we all liked the tips. Just not necessarily the tippers," she replied. But then she put a gentle hand on his shoulder. "But some of them are nice, like you." She leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks for being honest and willing to change for me. And tell you what, just because I will be giving it up the moment I marry Jack, and just because you will be in the club I'm sure between now and then, do this for me. Don't tip me any more. Just watch. And don't worry. When I see you, I'll smile special for you. You know why?"

"Why?"

"Because I can think, 'That's my darling's best friend.' And anything that makes me remember Jack, I like."

Everyone headed home. But when Diamond got back, she sat on the couch and looked at their snowflake day tree. Jack came in almost after, since he had to take the cab and she always was faster on her broom.

"Sit and cuddle with me darling," she said.

He sat down, she cuddled up to him, and outside, it began to snow again. They turned down the lights but left the trees lights on to illuminate the room. It was quiet for a moment. Jack had his arms around her shoulders and looked into her face. It was becoming a familiar face now, he could see that little black crusty mole upon her right cheek, and that crinkle in her eyebrows which made her upper eyelids look a little greasy. But even so, she could still look so sweet.

"How did you like your presents?" he asked.

"Oh Jack," she whimpered. She buried her head into his shoulder and cried for a moment. "Why am I so lucky? Why do I have so much to look forward to? I look at the new dancers, some of them are already so horribly scarred by what has happened to them. Some of them are still so foolish and naive and have no idea. Some of them are lonely. Some have boyfriends who insult them every day, or sleep around, or won't commit. Some of them have fathers who never loved them or mothers who raised them by themselves. One of the new girls? Her mother was a dancer in the Skuzz just a few years ago and she's there thinking she's going to be cute and sexy and rich just like her mother and she has some of her mother's costumes and she remembers what her mother told her about Rosa. She can barely dance and Rosa is losing patience with her. Why did I get you? Why am I happy? Why should I have all the luck, darling? Why should it be me that has so much to live for and look forward to? I feel happy and yet guilty and I don't know why."

"Diamond? My misty elven dancer," sighed Jack. "I have no clue. I don't know. I only know that when you were crying at my front door, I saw the chance to be the hero. To pull you through. And that appealed to me. Why did it? I don't know. I could have stayed that first time I saw the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen before but there was a book. But what would have happened then when I found out?"

Diamond was looking at him, her cheeks streaked with tears. Jack leaned over and gently kissed them.

"You can't kiss my tears away darling," she whimpered. "I only want to cry more then. I kind of like it when you do that." She gave a half giggle half sob.

"Diamond," he sighed. "Some people live in little homes, some people live in mansions. Some people are eating banquettes, some are scrambling for grains of rice. I can't tell you why. But what I can do is ask you this; beloved little elf, were you happy last spring?"

"No Jack, I was miserable."

"Are you happy now?"

"Yes, so happy."

"So how do you know that some of those sad dancers you are seeing right now won't be happy in a year because something wonderful might happen to them?"

She looked at him.

"You say some of them have lost their fathers, or had fathers that never loved them. Rochelle lost her parents, you lost your parents, and yet, here you are happy. And Rochelle? We have to pull her off of Tiberius on a regular basis."

Diamond began to giggle.

"Some of them have rotten boyfriends. Well I had a rotten girlfriend. No one knows why bad things happen to this person or that. Sometimes, it's because we do stupid things. Sometimes, it's because someone did something stupid and we're the one's hurt. From what I was able to research into the deaths of Rochelle's parents? It was a flaw in the oven. That oven was fireproofed. It should not have caught fire. And sometimes, it's just because. Ayumi lost some fairy friends because a meteor fell upon her friend's fairy house when she was having a party. But what Ayumi decided was that there was no point staying sad about it. Her tears were not going to bring back her friends. She had to move on."

"I know you're feeling like you're getting the best deal out of all your friends. I'd like to think it's because I'm just the really cool guy. But when you first saw me? I was a paper boy still, I think. I was no one. I had no control over Ojeda's decisions to promote me. I just did my job and it turned out to be done in a way that she trusted me with more important tasks. If you hadn't been such a talented dancer to begin with, you never would have made it to the Scuzz. We never would have met. So there's no way to know is there?"

Diamond signed and lay her head upon his shoulder. He put his arm around her and gave her a squeeze.

"But what I do know is this. In spite of all my good decision making skills, I still made one big mistake because one really pretty dark elf dancer turned out to be one of those very rare gems in a very seamy profession. And I only got a second chance with her because Ariel, when given the choice between being a real girlfriend with a guy she was falling in love with, and running off for the next exciting thing, choose to pursue excitement. Had Ariel decided to stay in love with me, it would have been over. And I'd still be having great woo hoo, and no one to share my stories with. So one rotten decision lost you, and another rotten decision got you back."

"It's so funny," she sighed. "Here I am the life of the party and there you are sitting quietly with a close friend like Trey or Tiber. I throw my clothes off before a thousand guys and you blush when I tell you how cute you look in those swimming trunks. I can't stand still for a moment and you can sit and read a book for hours. And yet, we can't stand being separated from each other for any length of time. I cry on a moment's notice and you laugh every hour. We're so different, and yet we fit so well."

She looked at her ring.

"It was the best snowflake day ever darling. And I hope that the next one will be after we are married."


	15. Chapter 15 - Winter's End

**Winter's End**

"Jack?" came Tiber's voice over the phone.

"Hey Tiber, sup? How's campus?"

"Falls pretty much moving along here. I understand you guys are seeing winter wrapping up. How was the trip to China?"

"Well you know Diamond?"

"Was there any bail money posted? No wait, don't tell me, there was an international incident?"

"No, not that bad. But she really got into the adventure part of the thing, which was really good because I had a lot of reading I had to do."

"Tell me about it."

"Well we get to the base camp. It's okay, cheap showers and toilets, and single beds, but hey, it's a place. Well, she promptly changes into one of those Jungle Girl Explorer outfits, pith helmet, cotton shirt, canvas jacket and shorts with boots and thick knee socks. Walks into the dining room, looks at the mirror, and says, "Laura Croft, you are so owned."

"That's Di alright," laughed Tiber.

"Gives me a kiss, and heads off to some temple in the forbidden city. Apparently she poked around a bit and came back with a really large foo dog artifact of some sort."

"Foo dog?"

"Yeah, she plops it down in front of me, scratches it behind it's ears, and says, 'Darling, he followed me home, can I keep him?'"

"What did you say?"

"I told her it would have to be housebroken first. And she assured me not to worry, she'd also feed it every day."

"What are you going to do with a big artifact like that?"

"I have no clue. Can't fit it anywhere on the houseboat right now. We're really running out of space on that boat. We'll probably move to a new house that's just been built adjacent to the Jester's home on the main island. It's on the top of a hill that overlooks the main town."

"Sounds nice."

"She's really excited about it as well. She loves the Jesters. Spends as much time over at their place as she can, when the dragon isn't around."

"Dragon?"

"Ayumi's pet. Little green thing. She calls him Flower. Kind of cute fluttering around when I see them together at the park. But Diamond's scared of it."

"Scared of a little green lizard named Flower, and turns around and goes tomb raiding in China?"

"Yeah, she did. Didn't hesitate to open up sarcophagi and feel around inside for stuff. You never know what she's going to pull next."

"Did she tell you anything about it?"

"Yeah, there was this deep well she had to dive into to get somewhere. And she didn't want to get her clothes wet."

"Um hum?"

"You guessed it."

"How descriptive?"

"Not entirely R rated, but she made it very clear that she removed everything before she dived in."

"She and Mabel are passing notes I swear," groaned Tiberius.

"You don't say?"

"But Mabel gets really descriptive. I mean, we're just talking on the phone and the next thing I know she's getting ready for her shower and letting me know about every button."

"You had a few girlfriends before Mabel right?"

"Yeah and no, they didn't get into any of those sorts of descriptions But I suspect Mabel is going way more overboard. I mean Diamond has never sent you a provocative selfie . . . or video?"

"Nope."

"Mabel . . . sends a lot of them. I swear I've seen her perform in her bedroom in just about every single costume she has. She insists its for evaluation purposes, you know, would you think this would be a sexy performance on stage sort of thing? You can help, you're so mature and a really sexy guy and I so want to please my audience. So you have to watch it and tell me how good it was. Biggest load of bull I've ever heard. For starters it's her bedroom? She lives alone, she's got a way bigger living room with a really nice stereo. Makes sense to me that she would want more room to duplicate the stage she performs on. From how she's described it anyway. But she always sends a 'performance evaluation' from her bedroom, and she always finishes in some really cute and sexy pose on her bed."

"You poor fellow you," joked Jack.

"Yeah I'm suffering. Oh, nobody knows the troubles I see . . ." He sighed. "Jack . . . I have a confession to make."

"Um?"

"I love every last one of them."

"Kind of hard not to when you're already carrying a torch for them."

"Don't think I could stand watching her do that in front of a whole club full of jocks, but in her bedroom at her house, I can't take my eyes off of her 'cause Jack? I can see the love in her eyes."

Jack nodded.

"So word is out you'll be coming back to campus for another semester?"

"That's true," answered Jack. "Well be in another one of the dorms, can't recall it's name just yet but it will be closer to the central campus. In just over two weeks. Diamond will be taking one more class than I will."

"Yeah, folks are still talking about her last parties."

"And why not? They have everything that makes a college party great," snorted Jack. "Live band, good looking girls in sweet outfits, wet bars, dancing, brawls."

"Oh yeah, I still wince every time I remember crashing into those cymbals."

"But between now and then I have a pretty big project. Live interviews with the locals who are being recruited for that film they will be doing this summer."

"Yeah I heard about that one, another big Peterson epic."

"You got it. And I've got to deal with the interviews with the dancers from The Scuzz."

"Hey, at least Diamond will be . . . oh yeah, that's right. You don't want to watch her up there any more than I do . . ."

"I think I've got a solution, but even so, Diamond will be in stage make up and costume and if she's in a mischievous mood . . . with her friends . . ."

"And Mabel."

"You got it. Well Mabel won't be working the film. She said no to the scouts, and that was in spite of the fact that they really made her some sweet deals. She's really popular and I suspect it's because she looks so young next to the other girls. "

"Whoa," suggested Tiberius, the irony lacing his voice. "How could that be?"

"No clue," replied Jack with a touch of sarcasm. "But apparently there was an understanding between her and Rosa, the Diva of the place."

"Staying undercover," mused Tiberius.

"Ironic isn't it?"

"Oh! Yeah that is really ironic."

"Okay Tiber, we'll be seeing you back on campus in a while. Take care."

"You too and let Mabel know I told you how much I love her."

"Will do." Jack flipped off his phone and looked out of the picture windows. Suddenly a pair of hands walked across his shoulders and oozed around in front. The fingernails were long and deep red.

"Darling?" Diamond said. "I'm off to work now. About when will you all be over to the club for the," and here she slipped into her sexy whisper voice, "interviews?"

"Not soon enough from the way you're talking Misty Rain," he said. He turned and faced her. "But don't get too excited now. It's going to be professional all the way."

"Oh you're no fun. The one time you're going to be there and I'll have an excuse to get really excited about a tipper and you're talking all stuffy and professional. What am I doing to do with all that whipped cream and chocolate sauce then? I even have a little cherry to put on top."

"Come again?"

"Just kidding," she giggled. Then she sighed. "You didn't blush that time."

"I know you enough by now to know that when you're playing hot and bothered, just about anything is going to come out of that kissable mouth of yours and I take it with a grain of salt."

"You mean you don't believe every word I say?"

"Diamond," said Jack looking into her eyes.

"Sorry," she said looking away for a moment. She sighed again and just looked at him. "We've really screwed this up at times haven't we darling?"

Now it was Jack's turn to sigh. "Yep."

She looked into his eyes for a moment. He looked right back. He never could get tired of looking at that face of hers.

"Just the same," he added. "I'm so frabbin lucky to have you. Beldin Moon is getting ready to be wrapped up. And all the times we've talked about it over lunch. You've written so much of it with me."

"Any royalties to stick in my garter then?"

"I think a diamond on Diamond is sufficient reward," he said lifting her left hand and kissing a ring finger so adorned.

She smiled. "Yeah," she agreed. "But I gotta try my hot moves on you just to keep in practice. I hear at some point, when I'm going to be really in the mood, a few years after we're married, you're going to have a favorite chair."

"And you won't have a migraine?"

"Oh now you're fighting dirty."

She gave him one of her long and lingering goodbye kisses. "Looking forward to seeing you soon," she whispered. And she headed out the door.

Jack left a few minutes later heading for the towers. There he met with Trey and Enrico.

"Ready guys?" He asked them.

They nodded. They drove down to the shore, crossed the straights, got to the smaller island and then traveled up to the small business sector and turned right, following the road to the shore. There on one of the shoreline lots was The Scuzz. Like Get Funky's it was a single story brick building with no windows. But it was somewhat larger. It had two entrances, the main patron entrance, and then the employee entrance which connected to the dancer's dressing room. But by that employee entrance was a tent set up and framed with pipe. Inside it was sufficient room to interview the dancers in a backdrop which would imitate the back of the stage. That was Jack's job. Trey and Enrico would be filming inside the club, where it was needed. Jack smiled. He was able to keep to his principles. He wouldn't go in there, and yet he'd be able to interview the girls without interrupting their work schedule. And at the same time, no one watching the broadcast would think the girls were not being interviewed inside the club because the curtain backdrop in the tent was the same as the backdrop on the stage. Walking inside, he began finishing the final computer instructions to the cameras. And then Trey sent out the dancers who were going to be in the film, one at a time.

Most of them were standard answers, career, hopes for breaks, it's a job, etc. One girl was practicing for beauty contests, making comments about world peace, feeding children, medicine for the poor, and all that. Jack smiled politely and thanked her after her little monologues. Then one of the dancers, Rachel, hit on him, suggesting it would be fun to fool around. He informed her that he was engaged, she countered that she wasn't looking for a relationship, just woo hoo.

Then Cocoa came in.

"Rachel said you turned her down," began Cocoa. "Why?"

"I want to be true to Diamond."

"You're crazy you know that?"

"I guess I'm not a jerk."

"You will be when you sleep with Diamond."

"After I'm married to her? I'll turn into a jerk? Seriously?"

Cocoa opened her mouth. Then shut it. She rested her head on her fist and pressed her lips together.

"I'm not in the mood to think right now."

"So what's your part in the film."

"You don't know?"

"It's the interview."

"Right," she face palmed. "Forgot why you were here. So used to having drinks at the boat with you and Di. Okay, those cameras running?"

"Of course."

Cocoa's expression changed. Her face took on a more sensual pouty expression.

"I'm one of the pixeled slave girls. I'll be behind the Doctor of Delights. He's the head of the operation. I just lounge behind him looking hot."

"Think it'll lead anywhere?"

"Frab no. I'm eye candy. My looks are fashionable right now. Next year, it'll be someone else."

"So you got the part because you look like the sexy slave, addicted, shall we say, to woo hoo."

"Pretty much, but giving the scout and recruiter both a good ride may have had something to do with it also."

"Cocoa? Seriously, why do you woo hoo perfect strangers?"

"You never know how good it'll be," she replied. "Suspense always adds a bit of flavor."

"Well that's it."

"Hey Jack, Diamond doesn't have a part of course, since she's guessing you'll marry her before the filming is done. So she turned them down. The recruiter really put the screws on her too. Said she'd be seriously exotic for the party scene. She had a chance to be the table dancer for the banquet. The biggest part they were going to give us. That went to Gabrielle. She's going to find it a serious challenge because it just isn't her style. But Di really is hoping you'll see her. She's kind of fretting about it now. You know how quickly she scares. Can I tell her you'll see her after Gabrielle?"

Jack paused. The fact that Diamond turned a part down was a sudden surprise for him. But he'd find out more about it when Gabrielle came in. At the same time, his professional acumen told him that if Diamond wasn't going to be in the movie, she didn't deserve an interview. This was about the girls who were going to be in the film, not those who didn't. Rochelle wasn't being interviewed either. But what Cocoa had said, 'You know how quickly she scares.' He sighed.

"Tell her I'll see her after Gabrielle," he said.

Cocoa left and Jack began to work on editing Cocoa's comments. He didn't think it would be a good idea to include Cocoa's 'riding the scout' commentary.

"Hello Mr. Jack Fearthegn, Lead Reporter Extraordinaire! Are you ready to interview cute little fluttery flirty me?"

"Well if it isn't Ms. Gabrielle . . . I don't think I've ever gotten your last name."

"Arias, Jack dear. But it's normally not a good idea to bandy the real names around in this business. Of course I have my own ways of dealing with handy patrons . . . traps and skivvies in particular. Tummy Twister is a good one two. Most of the patrons know that I'm there to look at, not touch. And they sometimes are nice enough to warn the new fellows, if they like them that is. So it's not so important."

"So rumor has it that you have the best part they were giving you girls."

"Indeed, I'm the table dancer. At the big evil banquette when E. Vil Genius presents his diabolical plan to transform all the little old ladies in the charities bazaar into young adult girls addicted to woo hoo, I open the scene by dancing upon the great table in a very elaborate costume, which of course I discard in a very sinuous manner. It's going to be a challenge because that simply is not my style. I'm more the happy cute discarder. It's a part that was perfect for Diamond. She knows how to slither out of a formal. I don't. She'll have to work a great deal with me. But . . . it's a job and it pays and some guy will hopefully dream little happy dreams after seeing me."

"Word is she was going to get the part," observed Jack.

"Oh indeed she was. It was already decided after they saw her perform. She refused. She was getting married soon and she was going to retire. Bounder is already pressuring her to not quit, at least not yet. She's being quite adamant about it. Jack, if you break it off with her at this juncture I swear I will come over there myself and make your life a non-stop fairy prank for the next three generations of your clan."

"I don't have any children yet Gabbi," suggested Jack grinning.

"And you think that little detail will stop me, dear?"

"Knowing you, I guess not. So what's your hopes for the part?"

"I have one goal in my performance and that is making a guy happy he saw something pretty, presented in a cute and sexy fashion. I have always liked the smiles, I feed on them almost as much as pollen punch. If the movie goers say, 'Oh she was such a sexy cutie pie,' then I've done my job for the day."

"So there's no other ambitions?"

"Dear, some girls think they'll be able to go into serious dance or movies or acting, I know better. The most any of them can hope for is to get the eye of some politician . . . preferably unmarried as affairs are so messy and painful and frequently fail to achieve their ends."

"So what will you do when you can no longer dance?"

"Dear when you can fly, you can always dance. What you probably mean is what will I do when I no longer look cute enough to dance pixeled? Well that's when I build an arboretum and be the fairy keeper of it. That castle you and Diamond were so utterly wonderful to acquire has really accelerated that opportunity."

"So you've thought of the future," observed Jack.

"Well of course," replied Gabrielle. "Dear you really need to understand. I'm a very rare bird in this profession. I actually wanted to become a dancer."

"Diamond seemed to suggest that was the case."

"Indeed. I fluttered out of the shower just after I grew up into a teen, looked at myself in the mirror, and I said, 'Oh Gabbi, you look so cute it's selfish of you to not share.' My boyfriend disagreed with me three days later when I gave him my first expressive dance."

"He didn't think you were pretty?"

"No he wanted me exclusively for himself. That was not the plan. The baseball team agreed with me and . . . well here I am!"

"The baseball team?"

"We had a party and I gave them an impromptu. Well . . . that wasn't entirely true. I did have the boom box all set up in advance and did pick out some very cute underwear."

"And you never felt self-conscious? Diamond said she had a hard time the first few."

"I know she did. And Rochelle also had a hard time. But let's face it, half the population looks like me. I don't see how I'm really that much different. I just never had an issue with it. If throwing off my skirt made the boy smile, off it went."

"Well I think we have a good bit of material here for the interview. Tell Diamond I'll see her now."

Gabrielle fluttered out. Jack began the editing.

"Hello there," came a slow soft voice.

Jack had a hard time not breaking into giggles. Diamond was definitely in a mood. He looked up and took a sharp breath.

Diamond was in a very form fitting white evening gown which was slit up the leg. Above that was a long fold of cloth which he suspected was the zipper which held the dress on. It went up to the shoulders. There were two small spaghetti straps on top.

"I'm here for my screen test," she added.

"Interview," he corrected. "This is an interview."

"Oh? Does this mean I won't be sleeping with you?"

"Diamond?"

"Oh darling, can't a girl have fun?" She pouted. "I really am all dressed for the occasion. I just start to pull this little zipper up . . ." and she reached for it and gave it a playful tug and a half inch of the dress opened up.

"Pull it down now, girl," said Jack with a slightly stern voice.

"Oh all right," she sighed. The zipper was pulled back down. "You're being such a piffle today. What's the fun of teasing you if you won't let me push it?"

"Sit missy," suggested Jack.

She sat.

"I was told you were going to get the best part," he began.

She sighed. "I was offered it. But I can't. I . . . I am hoping we'll be married by then. And I won't be doing it. I made a promise you know."

"And why did you make that promise?"

"Because I really love you . . . and I want to spend the rest of my life with you," she smiled sweetly.

"You know what?" observed Jack. "I think I love you too. And I also want to spend the rest of my life with you."

"Oh Jack let's get married soon! I want us together for real!"'

"We're going to college shortly."

"I know, but we could . . . get married afterwards? It will be spring! Love day will be coming up. It's such a wonderful time to be married. Can't we please?"

"You know, if we get married, you might get pregnant, and then we won't finish college together or at least it will be delayed a very long time."

"But darling I don't care. I want to have babies with you. I want to look into my little girl's face and blow tummy raspberries on her and hear your giggle come out of her."

"You really want to get married so quickly and have babies that will give you a pooch on that really sexy flat abdomen you are so proud of sporting?"

"Don't want the pooch, want the baby. I'll do a million sit ups afterwards."

"Very well then, that concludes the interview," answered Jack standing up. "And the answer is, before Love Day, we'll be married."

She sat up and gave him a very tight hug.

"You're so wonderful, Jack. I'll be such a good wife for you. I promise. You'll be the happiest guy in the world because I will do everything I can to show you how much I really love you." She paused and looked him in the eye. There was that little flirty look coming back. "You sure you don't want that screen test?" she whispered. "I do really great screen tests. I'm hardly wearing anything under this dress, and that won't stay on either."

"I'm going to break a house rule right now because you really need this girl," he sighed.

He turned her around, pointed her towards the exit, and encouraged her departure with a swat upon her posterior.

She squeaked in a rather surprised, and somewhat delighted fashion and hopped forward to the exit of the tent. Then she turned back with her front teeth over her lip with a rather flirty giggling grin.

"That's not how you're ever going to get me to behave," she suggested.

"Am Scray!" he said waving her forward with both his hands.

She left.

"Carny for scram," he recalled. She had taught him how to speak it.

* * *

Jack was looking over his computer. He was reading the page for the seventh time. He sighed. Another error. He corrected it.

"Darling?" came Diamond's soft voice. "How's the chapter doing."

"Stuck," he sighed.

He felt her hands upon his shoulders. He could feel her presence just looking over his right shoulder. It was getting to be a very familiar feeling. He wasn't sure if he was just registering the sound of her breathing subconsciously or just instinctively knew that was where she was. She was quiet for a moment, reading it.

"Aurora has unleashed the blizzard hasn't see?"

"Yeah, the forces of Blumont are at the gates. They have called up the ice golems and they are marching towards the walls and fire arrows are raining down, but I don't know if it's enough to stop them or not."

"Has to sound like it really could happen," she softly observed.

"Yeah," he said.

"Boiling water darling," she suggested.

"What?"

"The blizzard is throwing snow at them. Heat it up and it melts. That means they have a lot of water at hand. They can build fires on the walls, boil the water, throw it on the ice golems. Some of it will freeze on the golems of course, but the heat will melt more water than freeze."

"Wow! That could work!" he exclaimed. "And it solves the problem that they've already run out of boiling oil from the prior attacks on the Thar! Diamond, that's genius."

"Darling, don't tell me something I'm not."

Jack began to type it out. He felt her arms wrap around his shoulders as she watched his sentences form.

"Don't you need to put a comma there?"

"Yeah, right, thanks Di."

More typing.

"You're giving my line to Reynard. He's the clever fellow right?"

"Yeah," chuckled Jack.

"You're doing it again," she observed.

"What?"

"Telling me I'm smarter than I am," she sighed.

"Do you really object?"

"I don't know. I know how acting works, and you sound as if you really believe it. And you can't really believe it because I'm not smart. Yet, you keep acting as if I am. All the time. It's confusing me. Which of course proves I'm stupid. If I really were smart, I wouldn't be confused."

"Maybe it's just because I love you," he suggested.

"Your love is confusing me?"

"No, my love is making you clever," he suggested. Would this work?

"Darling, that's just silly. Telling me I'm beautiful every day, telling me how much you love me ever day, telling me how much you need me and care about me and how wonderful my lunches are can't make a girl smarter. Not that I want it to stop of course. It keeps me going. I'm up there on stage and some guy is screaming to me about my posterior in vulgar fashion, and what he wants to do with it, and I'm smiling because I can't let him think I want to rip that tongue of his out by the roots and crush it under my platforms, and then I just start thinking of all the wonderful things you tell me that have nothing to do with what's between my legs or on my chest and . . ." She sighed. "You're saving the lives of a lot of customers in The Scuzz dear."

"Mild mannered anchorman by day," he mused. "Saver of boy's lives by night."

"My superhero," she giggled. "Looking forward to the show my gratitude part."

"I'm looking forward to you showing it," he suggested. "Uh oh," he thought. "That was not smart."

"We've set the date," she mused. "And there's a couch right over there by the fireplace, darling. Let's practice."

"Don't tell me," he sighed. "Let me guess. I put down my computer lid."

"Uh huh?"

"And sit on the couch while you stand by the fireplace and let the fire illuminate you."

"Uh huh?"

"And then you start to hum a slow seductive melody and start slipping out of your garments?"

"Uh huh?"

"And then you start some serious make out session with me and just sort of surrender?"

"Uh huh?"

She was nuzzling his head with her face.

"If we wait until our wedding night, won't it be special?"

She paused. There was a moment of silence.

"Uh huh?"

"Do you want to throw that away?"

"Nuh uh."

She continued to snuggle his head with hers.

"You're getting to be a very good dancer," she sighted. "You start me on the steps I want to do and then suddenly I'm dancing to your tune."

"Just when you think you're about to let your dress fall to your ankles, you discover you've just donned a winter overcoat?"

"Well . . ." she paused. "You know? That's a really good analogy darling. I wouldn't say winter coat exactly, more like a cute frilly blouse on over the lacy bra."

Jack took a deep breath, looked over the page again, and proceeded to type out more sentences. It was one of those points that now he had figured out the problem, the story was zipping along. 'On a roll' was the slang term for it. Diamond just stayed around his shoulders watching. He wrapped up the paragraph. Looked back at her, what bit of her he could see given she was behind him.

"Smoky girl?" he began. "Don't you get bored watching me write?"

"Darling," she replied. "Don't you get bored sitting next to me on the couch?"

"Well, no, I'm with you. I can look into your eyes, and see them looking back at me. I can see that sweet smile of yours. And I can just unwind and relax with you next to me. What few times we get to do it."

"Then what would make you think I was bored?" she asked.

"You can't see me," he replied.

"I can too," she said softly. She pointed to the last paragraph of the story. "There you are darling. That's you. That's the best part of you."

"Oh come now," he chuckled. "It's words. My face? My fingers? My . . . um, well I'm not a strong muscular guy so I can't argue about my body can I."

"I'm the one with the body darling," she suggested. "What I'm looking at is your heart. It's in that paragraph. And it is the most handsome thing I've ever looked at."

"You like looking at my heart," he mused. There was a grin coming over his features.

"Yes," she said with a sigh. "You're heart." She paused to give him a playful nibble on his ear.

"The heart is a treacherous beast you know," he suggested. "It's been known to attack when you least expect it."

"You're being very silly darling," she said with a little twinkle in her voice. "I know exactly when your heart will attack."

"Oh?"

"Why of course dear. We'll have been married for a while, you'll be having your warm milk and medication. I'll walk in and slip out of my nightgown in a very slow and graceful fashion and you will be presented with the most incredible body a girl can have. And . . . then it'll attack you."

The grin on her face told him she was teasing him again.

"You seem rather sure of that."

"Not really, but it will be fun to try it and see."


	16. Chapter 16 - Scandal and Paparazzi

**Scandal and Paparazzi**

"And now gentlemen," began the DJ's voice over the speakers. "You know her, you love her, and you can't wait to see all of her. Please welcome to the stage, the one and only Diamond!"

The drums began to thump the old familiar beat that marked the classic performance style as Diamond sashayed out onto the stage and straight out onto the catwalk. She was in a formal. It always was a formal for this style, and there were all sorts of fun little articles underneath. But there was one variant. Tradition always had you wearing opera gloves. Those were missing. Indeed, there were no gloves at all. There was a reason. The audience would find out soon enough. She smiled as she began to work her garments. This performance was going to be special, a little twist. But no one was going to see it coming until nearly the very end. And so the white garments, one by one, were played, tugged, unfastened, removed, and then, after about nine minutes of music and dance, she had worked herself down to her g-string. And the music stopped for a second. She stood in front of the audience . . . scanning the room. There was dead silence, they were all waiting for what she was going to do next. You never knew what a Scuzz dancer had in mind, surprises were routine. It kept the audience coming back for more.

Her eyes fell upon Trey. She met his gaze, and winked. He chuckled and shook his head. She had kept her promise and he had kept his.

Then she raised her left hand and extended it out. The lights focused upon it. Upon her engagement ring. The diamond flashed and sparkled under the lights.

"Hey boys," she said, loud and throaty. "Do you know what this is?"

While everyone's eyes were gazing upon the ring, she unsnapped the fastener of one of the elastic bands to the sound of a single snap of the drum. Now her g-string was hanging by one band and nearly akimbo. Hardly anything left was covered.

"That's right," she observed. "It's an engagement ring. How do you like it?"

The whisk was brushing across the cymbals from the speakers as she sauntered from one end of the stage to the other, always extending the ring hand out and the beams followed it.

"You know what that means don't you?" she continued. "A wedding . . . and a wedding night . . . and on that night . . . I'll look just . . . like . . . this!"

There was a sudden bang of the drum from the speakers and the string flew behind the curtain. Bobbing her hips to the whisking of the cymbals she noted Trey had his face buried in his hands. She found that odd. He'd never behaved like that before. What was going on? Hot flash? Fever? Drunk Flush? She hopped he was feeling okay, but she had to finish the dance.

"I'll probably be . . . a little . . . shy!" she suggested with a rapid ba dump of the drums. She did a mock cover and adopted a bashful expression. One of the old poses, with the right arm covering a little to far to the north and the left hand covering a little too far to the south. Pretending to cover yourself in a parody of modesty that left nothing concealed what so ever.

"But once he kisses me," she suggested. And her arms flew up and she began to sway back and forth gently. "I simply won't resist at all. I'll let him caress . . . every . . . inch . . . that . . . you . . . see." The lights were playing all over her, and she rested her left hand upon her right shoulder, holding it out so that the ring still shimmered in the stage lights. The drum play and the cymbal whisks stopped.

"And you know what happens after that," she stage whispered.

There was a moment of silence and she swore she could almost hear the moans.

"Owned," she thought.

"So tell me boys . . ." she added. "Wouldn't you just love TO BE HIM!"

And a heavy metal guitar blew out the speakers and she sauntered from one end of the stage to the other, up and down the catwalk and collected her tips for the next ninety seconds. Then blew the audience a kiss and exited the stage.

Cocoa was rolling with the laughter.

"Oh Di," she howled. "They are green with envy right about now. You played them so bad. Stuck it to them good."

Diamond grinned smugly as she put on her robe. "Saying my goodbye to the audience," she said. "Letting them know what they wanted but never treated me well enough to get is going to someone who did."

Rochelle however was looking just a little concerned.

"Don't know if it really was fair to treat them like that," she said. "They do tip us nice routinely."

Cocoa snorted. "Rochelle, they're too stupid to get that she just hid her contempt for them in her tease. They don't think that deeply. All they saw was that some guy is going to be doing the woo hoo with her and they won't be. They probably think it was just part of the act. That the ring was fake." She shook her head.

The music was announcing another dancer, one of Bounder's favorites.

"Di?" continued Rochelle. "I just don't feel right about this."

Diamond gave Rochelle a little squeeze. 'It'll be fine dear. I was just letting a little anger out. I'm about to end my career and I don't have to worry about what . . ." and here she jogged her head in the direction of the stage. ". . . they think."

Rochelle sat down. "Okay," she sighed. "I just had a bad feeling about it once I saw his ring out there. Some thief or something might try to take it from you maybe."

Diamond paused for a moment. She instinctively covered the ring with her hand.

"Oh that's so right," she whispered. She sighed. "I'm so stupid."

A waitress came in.

"Guy by the name of Trey says he's a friend of yours," she said.

"He is," she answered.

"He gave me this to give to you. Looks like a message. I didn't read enough of it to find out why he wanted to see you," She handed it over.

It was written on a cocktail napkin in ballpoint. And all it said was, "See me ASAP, immediately, and fast."

Looking over Jack's shoulder for hours had taught her a little of the way writers make their points. You never repeat words unless you're determined to ram a point home. Trey was making it more than clear that she needed to see him now. Something was up. Tying her bath robe down tight, she slipped down the hallway to the main floor and waited until she could get Trey's attention. Then she signaled him over. The audience was responding somewhat to the new dancer, but she was still very much new and had not learned all the ways of tweaking the show. Even so, the music and the patrons were going to drown out any serious conversation.

Trey worked his way over and she led him into the hallway to the employee exit.

"What is it Trey?"

"Okay," he said with an exhale. "How am I going to explain this? Di? We have this little, shall we say, unwritten law which gives celebrities in the news a certain measure of privacy. For example, if Jack were having a drink with Ariel, and say she was hitting on him, but he was rebuffing her. Even if the place was crawling with paparazzi, if Jack made it public that he had seen Ariel in the bar, then no one would be able to speculate on what the flirting was all about. Because he's acting like he has nothing to hide."

"Yes," she said. "Trey, is Ariel . . ?"

"No, Ariel has done nothing." answered Trey. "Jack has been very careful to avoid any direct contact with her given she's always capable of trying to hit on him again. Yes, she broke up with him hard. But you know how she is. If she gets it into her head that a hot and heavy reconciliation would be exciting . . ."

Diamond sighed.

"So there's that little unwritten rule. And in the case of Jack and you? Well Jack has publicly announced his engagement, to code name Misty Fogg. And that's as far as it can go."

Diamond smiled. He was always comparing her to mist, fog, dreams. He loved the color of her skin and hair.

"So even though everyone in the tabloids knows he's been living with one of the top Scuzz dancers who's name just happens to be Diamond; it's not been publicly acknowledged. And since he's announced his engagement, it's a signal that everything is up and up between you two. So the tabloids can't just suggest that you're a typical omnibus groupie sleeping with the celebrity and Jack isn't doing you because you happen to be the hottest little music score in the dancer circuit with the legs that just don't stop. They have to follow the rule."

"And what does this have to do with me now?"

"You just announced your engagement publicly," said Trey. "If there is just one paparazzi in the audience tonight, who isn't Enrico, if there's just one associate of a paparazzi who talks about that act to him, it's going to be all over the tabloids tomorrow."

"I . . . I said nothing about who he was . . ." Diamond stammered. She was beginning to shake. "I . . . knew that wouldn't be smart. They can't . . . can . . . they?"

"It won't matter a frab to them Di," groaned Trey. "They've been looking for an excuse and this will do."

"Oh Trey!" her breath was coming in short gasp. "What do I do what do I do how can I fix this what's going to happen oh TREY! I don't want to lose him!" She was seriously shaking. "So STUPID Why I am SO STUPID!"

Trey gave her a solid hug and just let her shake for a moment.

"Gonna be an early spring thunderstorm girl, but . . . get yourself a good umbrella and you can probably weather. it. Jack, I think he loves you to much to leave you. Just be . . . prepared to get yelled at. Okay?"

"What if he le . . . leaves me?" she whimpered. "Oh Trey if he does that I'll DIE."

"He wont' leave you," assured Trey.

"I'll have just ruined his career!" she stammered. "I'll have just destroyed his chances of being Anchorman! I . . . know what scandal can do to you!" She began to openly weep.

Even when you're trying to be the good friend, you can't escape those 'what ifs'. Trey suddenly found himself struggling with the possibility that if Jack left Diamond, he could be there to 'console her'. She just might become his. It took him a second to stomp that thought back down.

"Don't be a fool," he grumbled to himself. "Yeah, she's the most beautiful thing you have ever seen, but Jack is your friend and she's on the verge of a broken heart because of what she's just done. And who's to say she'd not be looking at him wistfully all the rest of our days? No, get a grip dude. Don't do that to your friend."

"He Loves You Too Much," insisted Trey. "Seriously. He will never leave you Diamond." He gripped her shoulders and looked straight at her watery eyes, her running cheeks. "You are the thing that keeps him on an even keel. You are the thing that he measures himself by. You are the only woman who loves him for who he really is."

"Are . . . are you sure?"

"I'm sure.

"Oh Trey I hope so . . . I . . . I'll kill myself if he leaves me. Life will be horrible for me without him. I've lost him once, I Can't Do That Again!"

And once more she was bawling on his shoulders.

And he found himself really gritting his teeth so hard they were beginning to make grinding sounds.

* * *

Jack was sound asleep when he heard a gentle knock on his bedroom door. He opened his eyes. Looking at the clock he saw it was three in the morning.

"Di?" he said groggily.

"Dar. . . ling?" she was sounding a little upset.

"What is it Silver Girl?"

"I . . . I just wanted to . . . let you know . . . I . . . I love *sob* you so much. . . And . . . *sniffle* I'd never do anything on purpose to . . ." She was crying.

Jack got up, pulled his sword, and opened the door. She was still in stage makeup but it was very runny from her crying. He put his arm around her and led her out to the living room in their new home, adjacent to the Jesters. They sat in front of the fireplace. It gently burned, illuminating her and him. He just held her while she cried. Over and over again she told him how important he was to her. Over and over again she wanted him to know how much she loved him. Eventually, exhausted from her fears and grief, she fell asleep. He just held her.

* * *

Trey walked into the office. Things were a bit subdued. Ojeda called him into the office and showed him the Simquirer. There was Diamond, in all her stage lit glory, flashing that ring and covered only in a pair of very abbreviated black boxes. He didn't need to read the headline. He didn't need to see the article.

"We're going to have to delay the promotion of Jack to Star Anchorman," she said. "It may not happen at all in fact. Can you prepare him?"

"Yeah," said Trey. His heart was pounding. He felt his mouth dry up.

* * *

Jack looked at the paper, and closed his eyes.

"Do you know what you are going to do?" asked Trey.

"I know exactly what I'm going to do," he said. "I figured this out quite some time ago." He looked up at Trey. "Hold the fort here guy, given that I'm not going to be Anchorman, possibly forever, I can afford a little down time back home to . . . discuss . . . this matter with her." His voice was flat, steady, emotionless.

Trey had no clue what he was about to do. Jack rolled up the tabloid, and left the office. Trey felt his stomach doing summersaults. Uncertainty began to gnaw on him. An overwhelming desire for Diamond began to creep over him. He couldn't stand it any more. He walked out of the office and headed for the park.

* * *

Diamond was sitting on the couch, staring blankly ahead at the fire in the fire place. She had not eaten, she had not showered. She had just sat there since waking up. It was all over social media. Everyone knew. Jack had to know too. Her heart began to beat when she heard the approaching footsteps.

"Out of the way frabbit!" he shouted to the paparazzi who were snapping photos. The door opened and slammed. She turned around. He was raising up the Simquirer and then slammed it on the floor.

"Frabbit Di! It's all over . . ." And that's as far as he got.

"NO! JACK! PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME!" she stumbled over the back of the couch, staggering towards him grabbing his legs and nearly falling on top of him. "I'LL DIE I SWEAR I'LL DIE I CAN'T GO BACK TO BEFORE JAMOO! FORGIVE ME I'M SO STUPID I'M SO SORRY PLEASE!"

He had never heard her crying like this. He had never seen her face so twisted in terror.

"Pleasedon'tleaveme,Pleasedon'tleaveme,Pleasedon'tleaveme,Pleasedon'tleaveme," over and over again.

Now he wanted to cry. He had it all planned out. He was going to come in, slam the paper down on the floor shout "Frabbit Di! It's all over the town." Then he was going to get her to quit dancing.

And she was going to pieces before he had even gotten a chance to finish.

She had only heard the word over, and thought he was breaking up with her, and she was begging him.

"I know I've ruined your career, but please don't leave me," she whimpered. "I'll do what ever it takes. Please don't leave me. Forgive me. I was so stupid. I'm always so stupid. But forgive me. Please don't leave me. OH JACK PLEASE I LOVE YOU MORE THAN LIFE!" And all she could do was just wail. She was on her knees, her head was tilted back, and she was just howling in the throes of the deepest grief he had ever seen a woman undergo.

"Was this what she did when I broke up with her the first time?" he thought. And he strongly suspected it was.

He got down on his knees and faced her. He kissed off the tears on her cheeks. He took her trembling left hand and kissed her engagement ring.

"Where did you ever get the idea I was going to leave you?" he whispered as he looked at her trembling before him, her chin quivering, her eyes running with tears. "Who was the first girl who said I was handsome? Who was the first girl who wanted me to kiss her so she could say she loved him? Who was the first girl who wanted to hear what I was writing? Who was the first girl who made me lunch? Who was the first girl who ever wanted to spend her life with me? Who was the first girl who ever wanted to move in with me? And who was the first girl to put my diamond on her finger? Why would I leave her?"

"I . . . I ruined your career. It's all over the media. You're probably going to be passed over for Anchorman. I've . . . I've taken away your chance."

"Diamond," he said quietly. "What did I tell you my dream was? When we first were just dating?"

"You . . . you said you wanted to be a writer and . . ."

"The paper was just a stepping stone," finished Jack. "Smoky girl?" He saw the hope rise in her eyes again. "So what if I don't get to be Anchorman. I never wanted that job for long if for ever. It was just to get my feet in the door, just to get enough to be able to starting writing full time. I'm almost where I need to be to retire anyway. So I work at the Newsroom a week longer than I had planned. Who cares? You'll be with me right?"

"Oh . . . Jack . . ." she just embraced him and buried her head on his shoulder and cried.

He gently helped her up, he gently led her to the couch, and once again, he held her in his arms until she cried it all out. How long had she been sitting here in agonizing terror? How long had she suffered in suspense?

"You know how easy she scares," Cocoa had observed.

"Just when you think you've gotten the last of the dragons," he sighed to himself. "Another one pops up."

"Do . . . do you promise you'll be with me . . . even if we're poor?" she whimpered.

"We are not poor by a long shot," he said. "I've got 75,000 in the account now."

"How?" she asked.

"It would take math to explain," he suggested. "So you'll just have to take my word for it."

"So long as you never leave me alone," she whispered.

* * *

Trey was wandering in the park. Struggling between his friendship with Jack and his desire to have Diamond as his own. Imagination is a horrible enemy when it creeps in with promises of things you have no genuine guarantee of. He had heard of all sorts of misadventures Jack had had with Diamond yet, there she was up on that stage with that beautiful body and long legs with flirty smile and sinuous movement. She danced in his dreams. He couldn't get her out of his head. He was sure he'd be a good boyfriend for her. He kept trying to push it out. It kept whispering that his dreams of having a dancer girlfriend, who'd dance every night for him before they went to bed, were about to come true.

"Mr. Montalvo?" He looked. It was Rochelle, or rather Mabel in her frump persona. She was standing right by the fountain to his right. But there was another teen age girl standing by her dressed in a black steam punk style. And she was a dark elf. And she was so like Diamond in Trey's mind for an instant. But then he began to see differences. Really nice differences. Her hair was a bit more grey, but perhaps a tad more glistening. Her skin was a lighter grey than Diamond's.

But her eyes.

Her eyes were so beautiful. They were like cut amethyst. Brilliant violet chiseled forever into a glistening circle.

"Yes" he began. He coughed.

"You looked kinda out of it. You okay?"

"I'm fine Ro . . . Mabel. Who's this?"

"My cousin. She's my . . . mom's sister's daughter. My best and only friend. She just got here. She's going to spend the spring with me in High School. And then? Maybe her mom and dad will come here with her."

"Yeah," said Trey, his eyes now totally upon the young dark elf. "But what's her name?"

The girl began to giggle and look up at Trey as she covered the tee hee with her mouth.

"Crystal," answered Mabel. "Crystal Micah."

"Yes," said Trey almost to himself. "Crystal, like her amethyst eyes, glistening and glimmering, an adornment more lovely than silver."

Crystal turned totally purple and buried her head in Mabel's shoulder while Mabel just took a brief intake of air and smiled a broad grin, almost covering her mouth as well.

"Mr. Montalvo!" she said. "You've embarrassed her. She's never had a guy tell her she's pretty before."

"Well," said Trey quietly. "She is. She's prettier than Diamond."

"JAMOO!" cried Crystal. "NO I'M NOT!" She was now covering her face with her forearms and doing little lifts with her feet, alternating as she half jigged half danced half staggered in a circle giggling almost uncontrollably.

Suddenly, Trey had a mission.

"Hey girls," he said. "Have you ever been in a news room? I can give you a tour. Think of it as a little field trip."

"I dunno . . ." began Crystal. But that's as far as she got because she was looking at Trey and giggling again, covering her mouth with her hand.

"SURE," insisted Mabel. "Come on Crys, Trey's so cool and kind of nice and a great ti . . . whatever. And he's friends with Jack, who was roommates with Tiber . . . you know?"

"Oh? He's friends with Jack and your boyfriend Tiber? JAMOO! Oh!" she was still shifting in purple hues.

"Best buds," suggested Trey. "Jack and I work on his books on a regular basis."

"JAMOO JAMOO JAMOO!" she exclaimed.

"Come on," said Trey gently taking her hand.

And with Mabel giggling at the behavior of Crystal, and Crystal holding Trey's hand with her left hand while struggling to cover all of her face with her right hand and forearm, the three of them went into the Towers. The girls were given the full tour, and then he took them out for burgers at Cruzitas. Then Mabel had to 'go to work' and so Trey took Crystal to Get Funky's and danced with her for a couple of hours and then took her back to Mabel's home. He walked her up to the door, and asked her if he could see her again. She by that point was more than enthusiastic at the opportunity and assured him that if he called her after school tomorrow they could work something out. Mabel had to work so late waitressing to keep the house paid. So she would have a lot of free time after she had finished her homework.

By then he had completely forgotten about Diamond.

Which was a good thing, because Diamond by that point had Jack's face in a full lip lock.

* * *

The paparazzi were now all over the place. Diamond would walk out of the house and get flashed, as she put it. She would fly as fast as she could on the broom but they were behind her in their cars. And there they would be waiting for her when she was on stage.

Her picture was all over the adult sites. And she wasn't happy about it.

A year prior, she would have been thrilled of course. It would have guaranteed her position at The Scuzz for much longer since adult celebrity status would have been a draw for the club. But now, she was trying to wrap up her career as her wedding day was approaching. And as the next semester of college was likewise closing in, she was getting more pressure from Bounder who knew she was bringing them in.

One other interesting thing had happened. Trey was hardly seen in the club any more. He was seeing Crystal almost every night. Unofficially, they were boy and girl friend. Officially, they were not because Crystal was afraid her parents would freak out unless there had been some time of association first, and no pregnancy as a result.

Trey was somewhat annoyed at this. He really wanted to sleep with her. And she was proving more than open to the idea herself. But so far her caution was still overriding her desire for him. Then Jack sat him down and gave him a lot of reasons why he shouldn't. To emphasize that, Jack made it perfectly clear that he and Diamond had not been sleeping together. Trey had a hard time believing that. But then Diamond told him the same thing. That sobered him up a little. He grumbled about it, but he put up with the matter for the time being.

In the meantime, Diamond was getting sick and tired of the Paparazzi. First she felt that her home was no longer private. She would look out the picture windows opening up on the town and there the paparazzi were taking shots through the windows. She couldn't step out and do any gardening now that the first days of spring were upon the Islands. She kept thinking it would be nice to take up gardening. But any spot she started to play with ended up being trampled by this or that Paparazzi.

"Well dear," suggested Gabrielle. "Maybe it's time you learned a bit more about magic."

So she started practicing. But she was having a hard time with it because it burned up precious hours. Time she did not think she had. She'd get back from the club at three, try to sleep until nine or ten. Prepare Jack's lunch, take it to him, and by then it was time for her to get to the club for the early set.

One morning she walked over to the Jesters and unburdened the matter to Sapphire. Several paparazzi had come over as well and were lurking outside the main door.

"When's your next free night off?" asked Sapphire.

"Night after tomorrow," answered Diamond.

"Come over for a little dinner, you and Jack," suggested Sapphire. "And we'll give you all the motivation you need."

Jack was more than happy to go out for dinner. And the Jesters made for good company. Diamond of course could chat with them non-stop about all sorts of theater experiences. All five of the girls had similar stories about this or that event in their lives. Jack always felt most akin to Sapphire since she didn't just play the guitar, she was also composing music. They would talk about the philosophy of creation. And Diamond always was closest to Ayumi. The two would get into these goofball contests to see who could make the nuttiest face.

But after dinner, there was a single paparazzi hanging outside the door. The sun was down.

"And now," began Sapphire. "You'll get to see what we do with the Paparazzi who annoy us. Sanguine dear? I do believe you are looking a little anemic tonight."

"Oh I do believe you are right," she said. She walked out of the house. She approached the photographer, seemed to enthrall him, and then proceeded to sink her teeth into his arm. He was a bit woozy after than. Then as he was just getting back on his feet, a red headed Irish werewolf leaped upon him and gave him a solid thrashing. He was staggering over that.

"Oh you poor dear," began Sapphire as she approached him. I have just the thing for you to get you fit as a fiddle." And she waved her white wand and the poor fellow turned into a frog.

"Oh!" said Ayumi flittering up. "Oh dear . . . this will require some tender loving care."

The frog somewhat plaintively croaked.

"OH!" cried Ayumi looking and pointing up "Aliens!"

The frog looked up in panic. The fairy dust flew. The clothing vanished. The frog ran off in his boxer shorts.

"And that," suggested the Jesters. "Is just a sampling of what you can do with annoying paparazzi."

Jack and Diamond went home and that evening. Jack sat and read a book while Diamond practiced her magic. She even got the sink to be self-cleaning by the end of it.

So for the next few days, Diamond tried to put a few minutes every day into magic practice. Once she put her mind to it, she began to find reasons and times to use her magic. She would show up for lunch hour with Jack's peanut butter sandwiches, and cast a good luck charm on him before she left for work. Then she figured out the love charm. And when she got back from work that morning, there were three paparazzi keeping watch.

This was absurd. It was three in the morning and they were taking pictures and notes on her arrival. She proceeded to cast a love charm on the woman. Then she turned and cast the love charm on one of the two guys, just as the woman kissed the other guy. Then she cast it on the second guy, and then on the woman yet again. She ended up in love with both guys, and they proceeded to fight it out. The winner once again charmed, along with the woman, decided they wanted to retire to some place more private. She was thrilled and went to bed with lots of happy thoughts.

But the next night when she got home, Jack was awake because he got his next day off. He heard her casting the love charm on the two paparazzi but something seemed off. She came hopping in. Her hands were folded in front and she was gazing lovingly in his eyes while crooking up a leg in back and giving him cutie pie looks.

"Diamond?"

"Uh huh?

"Did your love charm backfire?"

"Uh huh?"

"I suppose I need to give you some serious kissing to trigger it properly so you don't end up in love with the pet cat?"

"Uh huh?"

They didn't have a pet cat and he doubted that sort of thing would happen. But he had figured out, from what he had seen when witches had cast this spell on other people, how these things worked. She had realized what had happened and had come to him for 'rescue'. He took her into his arms and she almost melted into his embrace. Her kissing was very enthusiastic and he seriously was tempted to get a little more than kissing into the picture. She was being highly responsive. But after a few moments of kissing her and hearing her hum with delight, she settled down and they spent a few moments together on the couch in front of the fire before she said she had to go to bed. Could he help her get ready? He declined and she seemed just a little disappointed. But by now she was just being her typical tease.

As he crawled into bed, he mused that it had been quite the eventful week.


	17. Chapter 17 - Back To College

**Back To College**

 _"Workout! Workout!_  
 _Now I'm getting through,_  
 _Push it! Now Push it!_  
 _Work it 'til your blue!_  
 _Work it through!"_

"Come on Jack, lift those weights! Come on!" continued Diamond. Behind her the boom box was playing a steady beat tune, the sort which worked well with cardio.

Jack was struggling to lift the weights, but Diamond kept giving him tips and hints to get through it.

"Why do I have to do this?" he groaned. "I'm a writer not an athlete!"

"You're going to look hotter," she argued.

"I don't need to look hot!" he countered. "The only woman I care to look good for is standing right here in her cute little white and red workout set . . . which . . ." he paused on the weight machine "I note is deliberately worn to let me know where every single one of your muscles and curves is located."

"Well of course darling," she replied with a little flirty grin. "Something to let you know what you're going to be getting on our wedding night later this spring."

"You're trying to change the subject, Misty," he observed. "Once again. Why do I have to do this?"

"Darling, if you're going to have a chance at Anchorman on the news, you gotta look so good they decide that little indiscretion on my part isn't sufficient to stop them from using you."

"Diamond I told you being Anchorman isn't important," he groaned.

"You're just saying that because you don't want me to train you."

"No I'm saying that because I don't want to be an anchor. I couldn't give a frabbin frash about being Anchorman."

"Well I'm not going to stop nagging you about this until you do it," she continued. "So you might as well get it over with. I want you to look so yummy that I can't keep my hands off of you . . ."

"You mean you can now?"

"Don't change the subject darling," she countered. "Okay, to make it impossible for me to keep them off. And then you'll get promoted to Anchorman and I'll feel like I've made it up to you."

Jack sighed.

"Push it!" she shouted.

And so he worked on weights. He moved to the beat of cardio. And all the while Diamond was with him encouraging him, giving him tips, and when the session was over, she made some comments about how much fun it was to train a guy because two hot people on the work out floor can end up in some rather fun compromising situations.

He was worn out at the end of it, and then the next morning he was sore, and he had a class to get to.

They were back in college now. Diamond was once again on the cheer leading squad and while everyone in the squad now knew what she did 'off campus' it was understood that she wasn't going to live up to the stereotype. Harold's behavior had kind of sobered up most of the older jocks and they were putting the screws on the younger fellows. Of course Jack's self-sacrificing fight with Harold likewise had garnered a good deal of respect. And it helped that in spite of Diamond's well advertised confidence in her physical attributes, her determination to not 'prove' it had made the other girls feel more at ease with her.

After all, when the dancer is the only one who won't take off her t-shirt in a wet t-shirt contest, that kind of forces people to re-evaluate the personality of said dancer. Curiosity overcame concerns and before the first few days of the semester was over with, Diamond had introduced some rather innovative maneuvers for the squad. They were not overtly sexual, but the cheer leaders did look more feminine in their poses and that seemed to work with the crowd. The focus on athletics tended to masculinize the women and Diamond was bringing back some much needed balance.

Tiberius had been over the moment Jack was back on campus and the two of them promptly resumed their roommate status. Diamond was rooming with Tammy. Tammy found that totally screwy but she did enjoy Diamond's company. And as Jack had their rooms seriously fancied up, both Tiberius and Tammy were quite pleased with the situation.

Prior to her departure, Diamond and Rosa had worked out Diamond's new absence. Bounder had put his foot down. If she left and went to college, she would no longer be a regular. Diamond said, "Okay" and walked out of the office leaving Bounder in a total state of, what Rosa liked to describe as 'conniptions'. Rosa knew that Diamond wasn't going to be working more than another week or two when she got back in the spring, and so moved her status to that of guest dancer. Bounder grumbled but acquiesced. He didn't like it that she was going to be gone again, and likewise, he didn't like the idea of her leaving when she was at her most popular on the web sights. A lot of guys were asking if she was dancing that night and when she wasn't, they would grumble and leave bad reviews. While Rosa knew that Diamond's absence was going to compromise the audience's enjoyment of the entertainment, she had seen this happen a thousand times and regarded it as merely one of those realities of the business. Popular girls left dancing on a regular basis. And there was always a line waiting to get in. The new girl, Margie, was a fiery red head who knew how to move to a beat and had taken ballet as a child. She was rapidly getting her own fan club.

Rochelle however, was missing Diamond something fierce. And furthermore, Crystal was spending almost all her free time with Trey. Diamond talked on the phone with her frequently, but she discovered that Rochelle was going to Tiber more and more for her companionship. Rochelle sometimes felt guilty about this, but Diamond assured her that what she was doing was only natural.

"Honey," she said at one of their more and more infrequently phone conversations, "he's not supposed to be just a lover, he's supposed to also be your best buddy."

"You're not going to be jealous?" asked Rochelle.

"Honey," continued Diamond. "Why would I be jealous? I can't be away from Jack for any real length of time without getting horribly lonely. I'd be really a bitch if I was resenting the fact that you felt the same way about Tiber."

"He really kind of wants me to give up dancing," sighed Rochelle. "And I kind of want to, but he can't marry me and then bring me to campus. Crystal's so frabbin lucky. Trey's already talking about marrying her by the beginning of summer and she can just up and do it and move in with him and I gotta wait for Tiber. I don't want to wait any more. I wish I was older."

"We all have our pains," sighed Diamond. "We all suffer in some fashion or another. Honey? Your suffering may seem pretty nasty right now, but something good will come out of it, I just know."

"How can you know that?"

"Because every bad thing that has happened to me or Jack or the two of us together has always ended up with us being closer. I don't always know why, but it just always happens that way. I was sure I'd get Jack into bed with me and then once we had woo hoo'd all night, I would be able to tell him I was a dancer at Scuzz and he would have stayed and accepted it. I know now that wouldn't have worked 'cause I had already lied to him and that failure of trust would have undone all the woo hoo tricks I could have pulled out." She sighed. "It had to be the way it happened for us to be together. But right now Honey, I'm looking at the light at the end of the tunnel, it's getting closer, and it's not the headlamp of the oncoming train. In just a handful of weeks I'm going to be a housewife. And I can't wait."

"So you gotta wait to?"

"Yeah Honey, we all gotta wait for something good to happen. That just seems to be the way it works."

Rochelle sighed at the other end of the phone. "Doesn't make it feel any better, but I guess I can put up with it more now. Thanks Diamond. You always were my best big sister."

"Your welcome Honey, and don't forget, if things really get messy, you can always move in with us."

"I really appreciate that. I love the fact that I'm still living in my parent's home. I can still see the old pictures and remember the happy times. But when I marry Tiber, I'll be ready to make new memories in his home. Just gotta deal with the fact that you and Crystal are going to get to do it sooner. I'll be up on that stage tossing my ribbons and you and Crystal will grilling hamburgers on the shore with your husbands and babies."

"So has Trey been clubbing?"

"Not in the past week. He's really totally into Crystal. They've done it you know. She invited him into the house last night and thought it would be fun to experiment."

"Uh huh?"

"Trey was a bit more of a test subject than she had anticipated. She told me all about it this morning."

"How was she dealing with it?"

"Well she's kinda torn. She loves him to pieces and they're going to be married and so she doesn't feel that guilty. Just the same she knows me and you haven't with ours. Of course I haven't told her I've really tried with Tiber. Um, she wants some advice on what sort of underwear she should be wearing for their next date. On one hand, I could give her some really great stuff . . . but of course that means she'll just be in bed with Trey sooner."

"Think about what you really want to tell her and then play it by ear." Diamond sighed. "I know how hard it is sometimes. They get so irresistible. And I get these urges to just tease him a little more to see if he'll crack. But if he did, I don't think I'd be happy with myself the next day. The waiting, there's a romance to it that makes it so warm and cozy. I've never really loved a guy I woo hoo'd with more than with Jack right now. It's sort of like you have to do everything else but and you keep discovering new things about them and yourself. I mean, I can lean over his shoulders and watch him write a book."

"Huh?"

"You would think I'd be bored to tears but I'm not. Watching the words form sentences, see the story unfold, it gets really dramatic at times. And then . . . oh when the romance starts. My heart just starts to go pit a pat . . . Some of the sentences are so beautiful when he's fully formed them. And it's like he's saying it to me even though I know it's really Goudie telling S'nae. Honey, I'd never have done that if all I had ever been doing with him was woo hoo. It's crazy, but I really think you have to learn how to get along with them before you do it in order to keep it from becoming the only thing you do."

"Wow . . ." mused Rochelle. "You know, I just realized that's what's happening to me and Tiber. He plays with computers, and he's been doing a private Let's Plays for the new Mass Effect. I send him my *giggles* dance evaluations and he sends me Let's Plays back. And he's like talking about why he makes the decisions he does and I am seeing things about him I never knew about him before. It's like a whole side of him is being uncovered . . . ," she suddenly sighed. "And now I'm thinking about uncovering him in other ways as well."

"It's what happens when you fall in love," observed Diamond.

She finished her conversation with Rochelle and then went into the lounge. There was Jack, studying his books. She sat down next to him, pulled out her smart phone, and started streaming.

"Studying with me?" asked Jack while his eyes were glued to the book.

"Sort of," she answered.

"What do you mean sort of?" He asked.

"I'm watching music videos."

"How is that studying?"

"It puts me in a good mood so if I flunk the upcoming mid-terms I won't be so upset."

As it was, Diamond seemed unable to flunk anything. It drove Jack up the wall because he was working his tail off and still not scoring perfectly.

But even so, Jack was not all study. Sunday afternoons was a traditional game of pool for Jack and Diamond. The difference between this semester and the last one was the presence of paparazzi about. Diamond and Jack just put up with them when indoors. Jack noted that Diamond was always posing with the pool cues when she was waiting for her turn.

"Sophisticated poses by Diamond Gemstone," mused Jack grinning. "Limit one per photographer."

On the way back to the dorm after one afternoon of pool games, she sighed.

"What's the matter Misty girl?"

"Paparazzi, kind of crimping my style with you."

"How?"

"I could have had so much fun playing strip-pool with you in my head like last semester, telling you how many pieces of clothing I had lost. It always has such a stirring effect upon your game."

"Poor baby," sighed Jack. "But I suppose I should be grateful you're not sitting there imagining me in boxers and t-shirt."

"Darling, I never play for your clothes, I'm playing for chocolate milkshakes."

"Tell me why I'm not surprised," he said. He took her hand and began to guide her across the street.

"Darling this isn't the way to the dorm," she observed.

"No but it is the way to Simburger where I can get you a chocolate milkshake for real."

She sighed again.

"Now what."

"No fair, you can play out my dreams about you, I can't play out my dreams about you."

"I'm just evil that way," he replied. Then he began to wonder. "Why is it, given your persistent concerns about your weight, you have this weakness for chocolate milkshakes? I mean, you never say no to one, even when you've just been starving yourself for a few days trying to lose that last two pounds."

She gave a wistful sigh and leaned against him as they crossed the street and reached Simburger. "Darling? You took me here the first night we were in college, and we drank that one together. So every time I have one, I remember your eyes looking so deeply into mine. It still has got to be the most romantic thing we ever did."

"But we've done it a few times in Cruzita's since."

"Yeah, but the first time was the most awesome."

The second semester at college also opened up new vista's on little variants in Diamond's personality. After one particularly class filled day, she came back to the dorm and noted he was in a study group with Tiber. She pulled out one of her class books, pealed off the plastic binding, opened it up, and began to study with them. Jack looked at her. Tiberius looked at her. And she remained, commenting on occasion, observing on occasion. And then after about an hour and a half, she stood up.

"Well that was that," she said.

"What?" asked Jack.

"I had this crazy whim to study," she observed.

"Really now."

"But I've gotten over it. Off to plan the next party then. Bye darling."

And then there was the full moon party at the Frat. Jack was studying with Tiberius and Diamond headed over to the party dressed in a very nice white formal. She looked particularly glamorous.

"Isn't that a dancer costume?" Jack asked when she came in to say goodbye before heading over there.

"No darling, see?" She pointed to the zipper. "In order for it to be a dancer formal, the zipper has to be long enough that the dress either falls off the hips without resistance, or opens up completely so that it can't be worn at all. This is just a nice formal for the party I got at an ordinary dress shop.

"Learn something new every day," observed Tiber.

"You mean Mabel has never . . ."

"She doesn't talk about the physics, she talks about using it to get me to go to bed with her."

"She still hasn't given up?"

"Nope."

"How do you handle it?"

"Cold showers and limited physical contact. It helps that she really hasn't learned yet what tricks to pull that would seriously reduce my will to resist."

Jack nodded. "That was what Ariel was able to do," he observed. "One of the advantages of dating teen girls. They really are not fully cognoscente of what triggers the 'no will left' modus in the guy. Of course if you're the sophisticated older guy, then it's a lot easier to get them into bed."

"Yep," agreed Tiberius. "Always a twist to it."

A few hours later the door flew open and Diamond came in.

"Hiz waz an awzome party Yack," she giggled. "There waz zhiz werewoof and zombie and paparazzi. Cast love charms un allof them. Then clozed the door on 'em. Not sure who fellin love with who buddet waz funny. Then Tammy pazzed out. And the polize showed up. Awzome party. Really awzome party."

She plopped into his lap.

"Un now ya godda take me back to my room before I pazzout. Toadally awzome party Yack."

He sighed, looked at Tiberius, and picked her up while she giggled some more and started to carry her to her room.

"Hiz like Heathcliff and that . . uh . . . Kathee zomewon carrying her to the window before they woo hoo'd."

"No, she died at the window," corrected Jack.

"Rather woo hoo," was Diamond's conclusion.

"I think that would be the majority opinion," observed Jack.

Diamond was free to spend way more time on her magical skills due to her persistent habit of not studying coupled with the fact that parties were only in the evenings and that left her afternoons free. During her time in the dorm, she started mastering the art of magical upgrades to the appliances and plumbing. Her sense of humor however was not always appreciated. A girl has to do her business on occasion and does not necessarily appreciate the toilet starting to glow and fizzle and sparkle while someone is outside the stall door a few feet away chanting and giggling.

Diamond and Jack began to enjoy the coffee shop. As Diamond had a second class, Jack would go over there after his class and study until she showed up. Then they would have a coffee and bagel together or some such. Fridays after tests was their favorite time to be there. Jack noted however that some times Diamond would start to watch other girls interact. One Friday in particular she was watching two girls, one of whom was a vampire, dancing on the carpet together. Diamond began to smile. After a bit, Jack asked her why she was smiling.

"They're fat," said Diamond.

"I would think you would find that sad," mused Jack.

"If I were fat? Yes, I would be sad," explained Diamond. "When they're fat, that makes me look that much better. I believe very much in letting them know they are special just the way they are."

"You don't say," observed Jack. He paused. "You're a very evil woman Di." he added.

"Oh Jack," she whispered. "I love it when you talk dirty to me."

Time is a relative thing. At points during the semester, things seemed to pass swiftly. But then Diamond would try to count the days until Love Day, which she knew they would be married by, and it would seem like it was forever. But likewise, for Jack, it went all too swiftly. He had his routine.

But then as the day of finals began to loom, Diamond announced that there was going to be a very big party at the dorm.

"Okay Jack," she began while they were seated at the dining table over breakfast. "What is the best way to prepare for finals at a party? Shall we have dancing? Or juice pong? Or shall we have a keg?

"Diamond," observed Jack. "You're going to have a keg, you always have a keg. So why are you asking me?"

"Because I can then justify it much easier," she replied.

Jack just looked at her while she looked back and fluttered her eye lashes at him.

"Well in that case," he said with a sigh. "Have all three."

"Jack!" she replied. "What a wonderful idea."

"Yes of course," he answered.

And that became known as the Triple Dare Finals Party. Jack didn't actually have much to do with it. He walked in that morning and found a very large statue in the front of the dorm. It was a man in boxer shorts holding a drink glass.

"I don't want to know," he concluded.

Then right after class Diamond was in a panic because all the toilets were clogged, all the sinks were leaking, the dishwasher was smoking, and the computers were sparking and the TV wasn't working.

"When did this happen?" he asked.

"Three minutes ago!" she cried. "It's gotta be fixed or the Party will be ruined!"

And so he spent the rest of the day fixing things. In fact he was fixing things while the party was going on. So when the last computer was no longer sparking and the Nerds were all in a massive free for all tournament on the playstation, he walked up to his room and closed the door and flopped into a chair utterly spent.

Three minutes later the door flew open and Diamond was standing there in her cheerleader outfit with a pack of Jocks behind her.

"Nerd Boy?" she said. "I bet you've never had the chance to woo hoo a jock girl have you? Well Nerd boy, get ready 'cause this is your only opportunity."

She promptly threw off her outfit and stood in her cotton underwear. She turned and addressed the jocks who were looking rather amazed and astounded at her.

"Rest of this is a bit private, so you'll just have to listen at the door."

She shut the door.

Jack just closed his eyes.

"You ready Nerd boy!" she shouted. He opened his eyes and just looked at her. She winked, and with a flying leap landed on the bed which groaned in protest.

"That's right Nerd boy, I'm strong enough to throw you on this bed and there's nothing you can do about it can you! Better get ready 'cause now I'm coming for you Nerd boy!" She proceeded to leap up and down upon the bed throwing herself at such a rate that the entire bed was in the process of groaning and wheezing.

"That's right Nerd boy! This is how it feels. Oh Nerd Boy! Oh Yeah! Nerd Boy you are feeling it?" And then a climactic. "OH YEAH!"

The bed at this point, cracked once. She got off of it, walked over to him, hooked her finger around his collar, and pretty much led him to the bed and gently lay him down upon it giving him a few kisses and mouthing "I love you so much, Jack."

He decided that it would be funny to lay upon that rattled bed with a silly grin on his face. She walked over to the chair he had been sitting in, and tipped it over quietly. Winking, she grabbed her cheer leader outfit, slung it over her shoulders, opened the door, and walked out. He could hear outside. "Any questions about my woo hoo capabilities? Good. I believe that answers that then. Keg stand boys. Who can hold me up for the duration?"

A moment or so later, Tiberius walked in.

"What was that all about?"

Jack sighed and chuckled. "I believe Diamond was persuading the Jocks that she could seduce a Nerd in a matter of seconds."

"You didn't . . ."

"No, but she persuaded them anyway."

"How could she . . .?"

"Tiber, I swear that woman has the most innovated improvisational imagination I've ever seen."

"Why's the chair tipped over and why does the mattress look like an elephant was dancing on it?"

"Well," began Jack, "I'll tell you. . ."

* * *

Friday Finals had arrived. Jack was nervous for his tests. Diamond was excited because the weekend was upon them and then they would be heading back to the islands.

Jack had set the date. Their wedding would be in a week.

She felt good about the tests. She remained astounded that she found so many of the questions so easy to answer. And then when her last test was over with, she headed over to the coffee shop where Jack was waiting for her. He was sitting on the couch reading a book. She walked up and sat next to him, and just rested her head on his shoulders.

"I love you Misty," he said quietly. "So how's the most beautiful elf girl I know?"

"Very impatient," she sighed. "I want to marry you and be in the same bed with you."

"Is it really all about the bed?"

"No," she sighed, sitting back up. "I know that now. It's not so much woo hoo, it's waking up and feeling your arms around me. Snugging up to you on a cold winter night and hearing you breathe. It's just being with you on the couch and not have to worry about whether or not your kisses are going to make you so irresistible that I have to just stop to calm down. To wink at you across the breakfast table, and to giggle in your ear while we watch the fire. To just live with you, and all that entails. No more separate bedrooms. And to be free to be who I am completely in your presence." She lay her head back upon his shoulder. "Trey and Crystal are getting married three days after we do." she added.

"I know," replied Jack. "He told me. And Di? He also told me I'll be Anchorman when I get back. Things have calmed down now that you are no longer a 'regular' at the Scuzz.

"Just a guest dancer," she sighed. "And only for a couple more days. Then I quit."

"I thought you were going to wait until we got married," he observed.

"Darling?" She said. "That was the plan, and I stuck with it until I realized that you really never were going to leave me. When you kissed my tears away after throwing that paper down, reminding me how so many things we had done had been firsts for you and me, I knew right then and there that you never were going to leave me. That you never were going to let any stupid thing I did break us apart. I knew . . . I knew . . . you were going to be there forever." She took her finger and turned his chin to face her. "Darling? I'm a stupid girl, and I'll always be a stupid girl. And I thought for that reason, I'd never have anything good in my life. But you happened anyway. You loved me even when I was at my stupidest." She sighed. "I hate to admit it, but I'm kind of going to miss a few things about dancing. I'm going to miss the cheers and shouts. I'm going to miss the fun of planning a new routine. The jitters before a new style of performance. How pretty I looked under the lights . . . the friendship I had with Rochelle and Gabrielle. Oh I know I'll still be friends with them but there won't be that common bond any more. But you know? I'll also be so glad I'm out of there. There's just one real regret."

"And that is?"

"I never got to dance for you," she sighed. "Oh I know when we're married I'll be able to do all sorts of shows for you. And if you think I won't you had better think again. But it won't be under the lights with a professional stage and DJ. There's something electric about a real professional performance. It just sends sparks through the psyche. You will never see that part of me, that part where I wove such a spell of vision and grace and just unbridled sexiness. Try as I might, you'll never seen the same thing under a 75 watt bulb."

"Diamond? To see you, I'd have had to see you with a hundred other guys. And I really don't want to share you with them."

"And that darling," she said. "Is why I love you so much. But even so. I would have made your heart beat so hard."

"No power trip for Diamond?"

"Nuh uh."

"I was reading a book, and thought I would read it to you. We've only done that with my books, but never with another book."

"I'm sorry darling, but if it's not your heart in the paragraph, I just can't get excited about it. But go ahead and read your book darling. I'll get a peppermint tea and muffin and just sit here and be with you. That would be really romantic right now. Just sitting next to you?"

"You sure? I mean I can . . ."

"Darling? You're worn out. I can tell. You've worked so hard you deserve a little down time from your never gonna stop cheerleading jock girl. She's just going to be your little pet kitten now, quietly purring next to you on the couch."

"Oh alright," he said. He resumed reading.

She got up, got her tea and muffin and just sat next to him, feeling his arms next to her arms. She sipped her tea for a while, took little nibbles out of her muffin, and watched the autumn leaves fall from the trees and the students walk by down the street. By and by she got a little restless, and remembered how much Jack told her how dramatic and stimulating and thrilling literature could be. She sort of believed it. Watching Jack write about his little magical town on the river Karen had given her insights into the drama of story telling. So she looked over at the book shelf. She saw a deep red cover. She pulled it out. It was a strong man holding a woman in his arms. She was leaning back and looking at him with love and . . . well a rather large dose of passion. She opened the book to a random page and began to read.

"He pressed her against him and she felt her breasts swell with anticipation. 'Oh yes,' she cried. He put her down upon the hay stack and began to unbutton her bodice, his fingers gently caressing more and more of her skin as the cloth was gently brushed away from her . . ." Diamond paused. She read a little more. Then she flipped the page and kept reading.

Jack was right, this WAS stimulating!


	18. Chapter 18 - Hens and Stags

**Hens and Stags**

 _"Here's to the girl who woot's the best,_  
 _She woots them best when she's undressed,_  
 _She woots 'em here, and all around,_  
 _She woots them lost and woots them found,_  
 _And when they're up and really tryin',_  
 _She leaps on high and woots 'em flyin',_  
 _And when they're dead and long forgotten,_  
 _She digs 'em up and woots them rotten!_

"That was a . . . very . . . moving toast, Cocoa," suggested Diamond. "So . . . romantic . . . not!" She giggled and took a sip of bubbly from her glass.

Crystal giggled while going slightly purple.

"Hey," said Cocoa. "It's what you've got coming to you girl! Shine on you crazy Diamond. Last dance last night, get a standing ovation from the crowd, and now you're at your hen party. And in four days you're handcuffed for life!"

"Handcuffs are kind of uncomfortable," sighed Diamond. "I think I prefer my hands free. Fun stuff to grab when you're in bed with him."

"Oh!" cried Crystal giggling even more.

"You really embarrass easily," laughed Mabel looking over at her cousin. "Come on girl, you're not that much of a virgin any more."

"It's . . ." began Crystal. "Not like that with me and Trey. He's really kind of sweet and gentle. And . . . he reads me love poetry."

"Oh my!" exclaimed Gabrielle. "Who would have thought?"

"Jack's been rubbing off on him I suspect," suggested Diamond.

"Oh Diamond," snorted Cocoa. "Jack isn't the center of everything?"

"He is for me," she responded.

"You know it's kind of cool," mused Mabel. "This is the first party I've ever thrown in my house. And it's kind of neat. Crystal and I can stay up until it's over with, no worries that the cops 'll haul us home for breaking curfew, and . . ." she swirled her fluted glass filled with bubbly. "No worries about underage drinking either."

"Well you have to learn to use it right sometime," agreed Gabrielle. "And as Rosa would say, they don't let you grow up properly anymore."

Crystal giggled a bit as she drained her glass. "This stuff is so good!" she added. She sighed. "I miss Trey."

"Yeah," sighed Mabel.

"Oh you girls!" cried Gabrielle. "Sometimes it's just fun to be with girls and do girl things. Stop mooning about your boyfriends and fiancés. You'll be used to them soon enough and really appreciate getting away to do fun stuff."

"Yeah," agreed Diamond. "I can't wait to be married, but right now . . . it's so much fun to just sit and relax. I've just had a huge weight drop off my shoulders and for the first time in a long time, I feel kind of free you know?"

"Until that golden ring is welded to your finger," laughed Cocoa. "Of course . . . you know you've broken a few hearts."

"Oh Bull," snorted Diamond. "The only guy who ever really loved me was Jack and he's getting my heart come Sunday afternoon at four."

"No really," argued Cocoa. "There's been guys who have looked longingly at you from a distance for ever. In fact . . . one of them is here to talk you out of it!"

"What!" cried Diamond.

"Oh I know what that means," sang Gabrielle.

And the door flew open and to the sounds of country western a rather broad shouldered cowboy in flannel shirt, blue jeans, cowboy boots and hat came sauntering into the room."

"Howdy!" he said.

"Jamoo!" cried Crystal.

"Where's my ones!" cried Mabel. "I get to tip 'em for once! Heh!"

"Now dears show restraint!" suggested Gabrielle.

"Restraint!" laughed Cocoa. "Ha! Like they do to us!" She sprayed the cowboy with fizzy juice.

"Now look what you plumb did to my nice clean shirt girl," he said. "It's all messy and I can't dance in this!"

RIIIIIIIIIP

"JAMOO!" shrieked Crystal. She buried her head in a pillow, then peaked over it. The buried her head again, and then popped back out.

"All those poor little buttons torn out by the roots!" cried Gabrielle. "Homeless now!" She giggled.

Diamond just sighed and giggled as well. She looked at Gabrielle and shook her head.

"It's just not the same," she sighed.

"But it's fun," suggested Gabrielle. "Never the same for girls as boys dear. If it was there would be a lot more of them."

"Well cowboy!" growled Cocoa, who had been dancing about him like an Indian around a fire. If the bubbly will make the shirt go, how about them jeans?"

"Girl you don't get to spray my Jeans, they's special!"

RIIIIIIIIIIIIP

"JAAAAAAMOOOOOOOO!" Crystal was covering her face with a pillow, then peaking over with eyes wide as saucers, then covering it again. Mabel came sauntering up waving a simol bill.

"Now dancer boy, you have nothing to sock a simol in, didn't they teach you right in dancing school."

"That's what my cowboy boots are for girl. A cowboy never takes off his boots or his hat."

"I can live with that!" roared Cocoa.

"Well," mused Gabrielle. "This is a man a girl can hang her hat on."

"Hat?" shouted Cocoa. "Try suitcase!"

The dancer plopped his booted foot up on the arm rest of a lounge chair and Mabel 'socked her simol' into it. She turned and sauntered back to her spot on the couch were Crystal was still playing peek a boo with the pillow, her eyes wide as saucers.

"That's not Trey by a long shot is it?" suggested Mabel with a cheesy grin.

Crystal's bright purple face was once again buried under the pillow.

The entertainment lasted about another couple of minutes before Cocoa had persuaded the cowboy to drive his longhorns into her corral and the two of them retired to another darker part of the house for the next hour or two.

"I can't believe she took off her clothes right in front of him," cried Crystal. "She was acting like she was a stripper or something."

It was at that point that Diamond, Gabrielle, and Mabel spent a few seconds in titters and giggles while Crystal just sat there fanning her self and then gulping down another glass of bubbly.

"Well back to something a little less, stirring?" suggested Diamond.

"Hey Crystal, how about some playstation?" suggested Mabel. "Grand Theft Auto?"

"Sure," she replied.

The two girls turned on the TV.

"No ocking may the ipers stray Mabel," suggested Diamond.

"Ight ray," replied Mabel.

"Huh?" asked Crystal.

"Kitchen for cheese and crackers?" suggested Diamond to Gabrielle.

"Right behind you dear."

The two women retired to the kitchen were a cheese tray was set up with crackers.

"Wonder why Rochelle put this out here?" mused Gabrielle. "I would have thought we'd want the food in the living room."

"She was afraid of getting crackers in the carpet I suspect." answered Diamond. "I've been here before briefly and she's keeping the house very much like it was the day her parents died. She's changed almost nothing. So she's routinely cleaning when she can."

"Pity the Jesters couldn't come. They would have gotten a lot of laughs with us tonight."

"Sapphire sent her regrets this afternoon. New gig popped up and they have to do every gig they can. She was sorry but knew we'd understand," replied Diamond.

"Well, four days to go," sang Gabrielle.

"Four long eternal days," sighed Diamond.

"Enrico's throwing Jack's stag Saturday night," observed Gabrielle. "Good thing he can sleep until three the next afternoon."

"I know, kind of wish I could be there with him, but . . ." she sighed. "It's the custom. Jack has informed me that he told Enrico 'No Dancers.'"

"Really?" asked Gabrielle.

"I can hear your skepticism," suggested Diamond. "And I asked Trey and then texted Tiber. They confirmed that Jack had been very adamant about it. No dancers at all."

"Oh I believe he said that," replied Gabrielle. "Now that you've assured me you got a second and third opinion. And it does fit with his character. But Rosa has been informed to have the three of us ready for Saturday at Get Funky's and that's Jack's venue right?"

"Really?"

"Yes, Enrico seems to think it appropriate that Cocoa, Rochelle, and I send him off. Bounder told Rosa that was the request and to set the line up appropriately for Saturday night."

"Oh my," giggled Diamond. "And yes, it's Jack, Enrico, Trey, and Tiber who have booked Get Funky's for themselves that night."

"You're not upset?"

"I mean, Gabbi, if it was going to be anyone, it would be best if it were you and Rochelle. You know how much I love him. And you know him as well. And you've never really pushed it with any guys. And of course once Rochelle has finished her set she'll horn in on Tiber and keep him fighting her off. She'll have an excuse to keep her costume off and we both know she'll take full advantage of it. Poor fellow he probably doesn't stand a chance. Especially with that hot tube in the back. Cocoa? You could keep her under a good leash and besides, Jack's already told her flat out he'd never sleep with her and it would be a point of pride to resist her blandishments."

"Good point," agreed Gabrielle. "Granted Cocoa doesn't make it a habit of doing woo hoo with bachelors at stags when she's hired. But she does know Jack quite well and she's always looking for a new . . . fellow." Gabrielle pursed her lips for a second. "We can keep her under control if she goes a little too free and easy. So we don't have to worry about any jealousy from you then?"

Diamond was nibbling on her lower lip with her upper teeth.

"Diamond? I know that look. You're letting a sneaky little idea slip into that cute little cranium of yours."

"Uh huh?"

"What are you thinking . . . you're not thinking to crash his stag are you?"

"Not so much crash," mused Diamond. "More like crash and burn."

"Oh, be still my flittering fluttering heart and wings. What are you thinking of dearest?"

"Well . . ."

* * *

Jack was busy looking at the plans for the new house boat. It was the largest barge available. The entire back half was going to be open. The arch way was to be on the port side with the chairs in front. Then they would have the grill and banquette table on the starboard side. The two story house would stretch across the front half of the barge. The lower story had the master bedroom and bath. The bedroom was wide enough to accommodate a crib for the baby, when it came.

"You always need to have room for that," his grandfather had told him. "Because children need quick response time if they are going to grow up stable and good."

Then there was a nice angled staircase going up to the second floor. The rest of the main room was kitchen at the bow, followed by the dining area, and then the living area with that long blue couch he had owned since the first house boat he and Diamond had lived in.

"Wow," he thought. "She really is going to marry me. The most beautiful exotic woman I've ever seen and she thinks I'm the only guy who ever really loved her. How did I get to be so lucky?"

He paused to reflect on all the crazy ways she demonstrated beyond doubt how deep her love had been for him. The lunches of peanut butter. That fall evening when she wept and begged. The willingness to stick with the house rules. She had purchased an entire new set of underwear in order to keep them. And then the most powerful statement of all, that expression of terror in her face when she thought he was breaking up with her over the scandal. He had never seen a woman in such grief. Never had he seen a woman with such fright in her face. She had loved him so much she feared losing him more that dying itself.

But there was more than just what he had witnessed.

"You have no idea how happy she is these days," Rochelle had said.

"She always was just a little subdued until after she fell in love with you," observed Gabrielle during one of their Saturday morning breakfasts. "Then it was like she had just been plugged in. Suddenly she wasn't just lighting up the stage or party, she was happy in the dressing room. She was happy when she got up in the morning. She would hum while making your sandwiches. She would chat about this or that. And she got so animated when she was planning things, even new costumes and routines. And when you broke up with her, she was down for the whole two weeks. She really never got close to bouncing back. I could not believe how lucky it was that Ariel broke up with you. She was in a terror not knowing what to do. I had to kind of kick her in your direction. But she took off once she thought she had a fighting chance. And she bounced back even more happy because she was now living with you."

"Wow," he thought again. And then he reflected upon his own inadequacies. He wasn't strong. He wasn't handsome. And he could sit for hours reading a book which normally bored her to tears. And when he wasn't reading, he was writing. Sitting at a desk. Tip tip tap tap for hours at a time. Silent and still. She was high energy. Always on the go with this or that to be done. Quick to laugh, and quicker to cry. And he was so dreadfully predictable. And yet she loved him more than anything else. She was at the top of her popularity and she was giving that all up just to be with him and fade into obscurity. He and she were such opposites and yet she was convinced that they were supposed to be together.

"It's like we were made for each other," she had said just the day prior.

Upstairs was a porch with the steering for the house boat. They could go out to the dive spots and she could scuba right off the back. The top floor was where all the projects would be. Her dancing bar and mirror were set up. She wouldn't be dancing professionally, but she still wanted to keep her body in shape.

"It's for you dearest," she explained.

And he believed her. She had worked hard to prove she would never lie to him again. Even to the point of making a few confessions which were really not entirely necessary but just because things had happened in a certain way she had felt it necessary to clear the air.

She still was being a bit of a tease at times, but it was way more subdued. Now that the wedding day was rapidly approaching, her romantic ideals had persuaded her that the most special way for them to woo hoo the first time would be on the wedding night. She was seriously excited about that prospect now. And she was letting him know in quite a number of ways.

"See these thick cotton grannie panties?" she had queried holding them up this morning when she was in her bathrobe.

"Yes," he replied.

"Take a very good look at them."

"Why?"

"Because this is the last you'll ever see of them, darling."

"I feel so special," he observed.

"Just as long as you feel me tomorrow night," she answered.

"Oh that is SO BAD," he roared.

"I know," she said in a slow seductive voice. "And if you think that's bad, wait until you see me to . . . morrow night."

The plans looked to be in order. Tomorrow morning things would be moved out of the home next to the Jesters and into the houseboat.

"Gonna miss you, neighbors," sighed Sapphire. "Diamond was so much fun to do stuff around the house with. Like the time we pelted the paparazzi with tomatoes while making chili."

He looked at his watch. It was time to head over to Get Funky's. He had confirmed time and time again. There would be no dancers.

"We're having drinks, we're playing pool, we're talking about all the good times we've had," he said. "No need to distract all the reminisces with cute young girls we'd never have a chance at normally."

"Um," began Tiber.

"Like who are you marrying, Dude? Sister Maria Battleaxe?" queried Trey.

"Hey man," suggested Enrico. "It's cool. Rochelle and Diamond are kind of one of a kind you know?"

"I'm glad you understand," said Jack.

"So yeah, you can be really sure you won't be seeing any girls you never had a chance with, man," he finished with a rather curious off sort of smile.

The dress was to be casual. He walked into the disco/club and noted it was a girl who was bartending. He had never seen her before. She was in a miniskirt and vest. Rather lightly clad for a spring night. But then again, some girl bartenders thought a little body display would improve their tips.

"You new here?" he began.

"For the night," she replied. She had one of those porcelain china doll faces. Gentle nose, mouth, and eyes slightly larger than normal. Her hair was feathered lightly upon her sides and it was a very light sandy brown.

"What do we call you?" Jack asked.

"Judy," she said. "Or bartender."

"Oh, new to the biz?"

"Moonlighting. A girl needs a couple of skills if she's going to make it in this economy."

"Okay," said Jack. "It's an open tab, here's my card to charge it on."

She took the card, checked it, and nodded.

Then he turned.

"That's odd," he mused. "That old pipe and curtain tent I set up behind the Suzz a few weeks ago is in the corner here. Why is that?"

"Dunno," replied Judy. "It was here when I opened up. The note said not to pay any attention to it as it was for later in the week."

Jack was curious. So he walked over to the old tent. It was just sitting there. Totally enclosed and empty on the inside. There wasn't even the chairs or table he had put into it. Just the black curtains draped over to the pipes enclosing it. He shrugged. Odd that it was there. But then again, you could have fun with something like that in a disco. And who's to say it wouldn't make a good back drop for the Jesters if they got to play live again like last week. He walked back over to the pool table. Let his fingers brush it's green felt cloth cover. He kind of remembered his pool games with Diamond. Her flirts and her efforts to improve. She was getting better, but so was he. He won almost all the time. But if she was really falling behind, she would start to suggest where she was in her little strip-pool mind game. That almost always tended to narrow his lead. His imagination would start to take him places. Tomorrow night, he wouldn't have to imagine any more. She was really going to be there for him. He sighed.

"Hey Jack man!" Enrico called from the door. "Looks like I'm here first. Got the camera and everything if that's kay?"

"Sure Enrico," replied Jack. "Put it in the album."

"Thanks man, always good to have permission."

"Bar's open, Judy's pouring, and this pool table is looking lonely."

"Lemme get my fav and I'll be over there to whack 'em," answered Enrico. "Um, can you make sure the balls are . . . you know . . . on the up?"

Jack sighed and shook his head. You never knew what Enrico would fear was about to unleash ancient cosmic forces on poor benighted mortals. He put in the money, racked up the balls, and took the time to inspect each one while Enrico came up and cautiously watched him over his shoulder.

* * *

"And so I says, 'Man Madunna just refuses to age gracefully. Nothing like Katy Hepman did. She was refined all the way to eighty.' And he tells me that Madunna's still hot and like, he didn't even know Katy existed."

"Seriously?" queried Tiberius. "I mean she was in all those great films from the mid-century. How can he be that ignorant?" He paused to scan the table. Then he began to line up his shot.

"Some people are like that," sighed Trey. "They have no idea what has happened before. Drives me up the wall when trying to figure out where reporters are getting their stories from. It's like most of them have no historical context as to why people are doing what they are doing. They have all the dumbest reasons and think it's all political when it just has to do with the fact that maybe they don't like people painting their homes green because it's the color of their great ancestral enemy."

Jack sighed and smiled. This was so nice. Quiet music, Judy just leaning at the bar waiting for them to order the next round, a good solid marathon pool session, playing the first team to 125, and they had been talking about the good stuff for nearly an hour. No dancers was the best idea for a stag. One last bachelor guys only get together before he was in the arms of Diamond for the rest of his life.

"Thumpa Thumpa Thump Ba Dumpa Thumpa Thumpa Thump Ba Dumpa Thumpa Thumpa Thump Ba Dumpa"

"I know that sound!" began Jack raising his voice. "Who did this?"

"Whoa man ya gotta have a proper send off!" argued Enrico.

"Enrico I said No Dan . . ."

"Hey Jack boy!" said Cocoa coming right into his vision. She grabbed his collar and began to lead him backwards. She was seriously strong because she was doing this with one hand while the other was holding the boom box. He could see she was in a bikini top in tiger stripes. "You think we were going to let you get away with not having us here to see you off? You have never seen me without my stripes have you!"

"Cocoa I don . . ." and then he found himself pushed into a seat which had just rolled up behind him. He noticed that Cocoa was wearing a short tiger striped sarong around her waist which was tied in a bow on one side and positioned in such a fashion that it was highly unlikely she was wearing anything underneath it. He tried to stand up and failed.

"Gorilla Glue Fairy Dust!" sang Gabrielle. "Never fails to keep the cute little bachelor down and behaving himself.

His chair was swung around and he found himself facing her. She was in a pink bra and sarong, but likewise it was quite evident that she probably had nothing underneath either item.

"Gabbi I don't wan . . ."

"Oh come now Jack dear! Who but me to throw a little caution to the wind with, not to mention my little pink costume. I'm cute, lovable, and really am so looking forward to you getting married to Diamond. I just had to see you off properly.

"Gabbi plea . . ." and he was twirled around again several times between the two of them.

"Sul Sul Mr. Fearthegn!"

"Ma . . ." began Tiberius.

"Rochelle!" cried Jack. "You are not old enough to be doing this."

"Now Mr. Fearthegn that's not true," she said in her little blue sequined bra and sarong, likewise worn in such a fashion to suggest there was nothing underneath. "I'm old enough to know better!"

"That's not funny, Rochelle!"

And that scholarship you gave me last Snowflake day? I really am grateful . . . Really Grateful . . . I can't wait to show you my gratitude . . . tonight!" She played with the snap in the front of her bra. Then she reached forward and twirled Jack around in his chair again. He was really getting dizzy.

"Please girls, we're friends, stop!" he cried.

"Okay time to set the stage!" sang Gabrielle. She began to throw fairy dust about and the lights in the ceiling which normally would only be running during the times the dance floor was open began to twirl and swing. Jack found himself facing her as she did cute little twirls and sprinkles of the dust as it sparkled in the air. Behind her Cocoa and Rochelle, with their hips swaying with their steps, rolled up the curtained tent.

"It'll be just like The Scuzz!" cried Gabrielle. "You have to have the full experience because we wouldn't have it any other way."

Rochelle and Cocoa were on either side of the curtains and swaying and rolling along the poles of the tent while Gabrielle threw a little more dust about and then the curtains were glistening and glimmering.

"Are we ready for the dance?" she sang.

"Ready!" cried Cocoa and Rochelle.

"WHAT EVER ENRICO PAID YOU TO DANCE! I'LL PAY YOU DOUBLE TO STOP!" Jack shouted.

The music stopped.

The three girls looked at each other and then at Jack. They began to giggle.

"I do believe he's making a very sincere offer," mused Gabrielle.

"Ah, but we have contractual obligations," observed Cocoa.

"And we can't break those," added Rochelle nodding innocently. "That would be . . . against the law."

"Oh yes," agreed Cocoa and Gabrielle.

"Girls, please," said Jack, trying to sound calm. "I only want my beloved Diamond dancing in my mind. It's nothing personal, it's just, that's how I want to show her that I love her."

"Ah!" sighed Rochelle. "That's so sweet."

"Touching," agreed Gabrielle.

"Oh brother!" groaned Cocoa. "Way to take the fun out of it."

"So, are we agreed? No strip-tease?"

"What made you think we were going to strip-tease Mr. Fearthegn?"

"What?" asked Jack.

"I mean I'm not old enough," she added.

"Now wait a . . ."

"And I'm way too bashful to do that," suggested Gabrielle somewhat covering herself with her arms.

"Oh come on . . ."

"And I've got fleas," observed Cocoa. She paused to scratch behind one of her ears.

Jack was clearly glued to his chair, but his arms and hands were free. He palmed his face for a moment.

"Girls, I'm really not in the mood for a load of bull," he said. "What is going on?"

"Well," said Gabrielle. "We might like to tease you a little, verbally and costume wise. But we're not here to dance for you. We won't be taking anything off. We're not the dancers for tonight."

"If you're not the dancers then why . . ." began Jack.

"Because She's The Dancer!" cried Gabrielle gesturing behind her as Rochelle and Cocoa pulled on the ropes of the curtained tent and the curtains fell back.

"Hi darling!" said Diamond.

She was to the side, her stage front knee bent and her stage back arm raised up over her head while her stage front hand rested upon her hip. She was in a silvery vest, a silver mini-skirt with rhinestone belt around her waist. There were two white lacy fingerless gloves over her hands and sheer white silk stockings upon her legs, one of which was held in place by a sequined garter. A silver thick chain necklace was around her neck with a small red garnet hanging off of it in the center, and there was a silver bracelet upon her wrist.

Jack just sat there dumbfounded for a second. It had never dawned on him that she might do something like this.

The music started again and she began to swing to the beat. And he looked into her eyes and was nearly overwhelmed. He wasn't sure how she had slipped in, but he suspected it might have had something to do with all the swinging and twirling that Cocoa, Gabrielle, and Rochelle had been putting him through. It had totally distracted both him and his friends from everything else that was going on. But he knew she had heard everything he had said in his efforts to try to talk those three girls out of what he was certain they were about to do.

And her devotion was obvious. He really could see the love. His arguments had touched her more deeply than he could have imagined.

She got off the stage and sauntered right up to him and leaned in so her face totally filled his vision.

"Ready for your bachelor send off, darling?" she said in a gentle soft voice.

"Diamond," he said. "You don't have to do this." He knew better than to try to talk her out of it. If she was going to change her mind, it would be at his first remark.

"I know," she replied. "But I so want to."

"Why?" he asked.

"You'll know after I have finished," she said. "I'll tell you the whole story. Staring with the first tip."

And she stood back up, swung her left leg to the side, and reached down and snapped her garter.

"The first tip," she said. "You looked across the room to me that very first night. All you did was look, but in your gaze I could see you thought I was beautiful. I was in a vest and skirt, and all you saw was my face, but you thought it was beautiful. And that means I unbutton the first button. And it's always the slowest."

And she reached down and slowly slid that first vest button though the button hole.

Jack's heart was beginning to pound.

"Have you ever seen her look so good, man?" asked Enrico to Trey.

"No," replied Trey.

"That's 'cause there's love in those eyes for him," answered Tiber. He motioned for Rochelle to head for the door and he put his arms around the Enrico and Trey. "And because this is her love song to him? It's not for us guys. Let's step outside to the bubble blower."

And they did. Diamond noted they were going. And she thought it was a sweet gesture. But she hadn't worried too much about it. Enrico and Trey had seen her piles of times. And Tiber knew what she had been doing for a living. And besides, this was for Jack and she was going to give him her full attention.

As it was, Cocoa and Gabrielle headed over to the bar to chat with Judy, who's stage name was Charlene. She was also a dancer at the Scuzz and had been put there by the girls so that no strangers would see Diamond perform that night. But she did know some bartending because she was a girl who was smart enough to know that some day she would be too old to perform and so was building up an alternative skill base.

But as for Jack, there really was nothing he could do short of closing his eyes and he really couldn't do that. It was clear to him that she really wanted to dance for him. She had seen the opportunity and had taken it. And so the 'tips' flowed in. All the things she had seen him do and say to her which had told her how much he loved her and how different he had been from every other guy she had ever known or had a relationship with. And the garments flashed and flew. He never could come up with words to describe the experience. On one hand, it was such a feminine gesture. That physical expression of total giving. That unveiling of intimacy which, he had to admit, seemed right for him and her.

In the end he could only remember certain moments, the flash of the belt, the shimmer of the silver bikini bra reflecting the lights from above, the silk stocking brushing around his neck after she had slid it off her leg, the falling of the shimmering silver g-string bikini bottom into the laundry basket, and then she was sitting in his lap, with only her silver jewelry and twinkling glitter upon her skin, with beads of sweat, and some of the most passionate kissing he had ever experienced from her. Her skin was soft to his hands, and he just held her for a moment.

"Why?" he asked again.

"It's like you said," she replied. "You only wanted to remember my image in your head. And now you have gotten it. You have seen me as I really was for so long, a dancer, dancing on a stage under the lights, my garments floating away, my sweat upon my chest, glitter upon my shoulders. The goddess of the dancers, a dream for all who feasted upon my beauty. I'll be old some day, I'll have breasts that sag, and thighs that slouch. But when we embrace each other in our old tired bodies, you'll still be able to close your eyes and see me when I was the most beautiful, and that will fill your mind."

She looked at him for a moment, her silver flecks in her red eye shadow, her eyeliner bringing out her big red irised eyes that he felt he could fall into.

"Only one part of me left to give to you," she said. "And that will be tomorrow night."

She kissed him again.

"I love you so much," she whispered. "I love you so much."

And she kissed him again passionately.

And took a selfie while doing it.

"What was that for?" he chuckled.

"Something to blackmail you with," she suggested with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

"Oh come now," he began.

"You may not have noticed it, but Tiber really was a sweetie and got Trey and Enrico to join him outside. It's just you and me, and Judy and Cocoa and Gabrielle. But they're at the bar having drinks."

"But you would have done it if they watched?"

"Of course, darling. I was a professional. But just the same, it's kind of nice that he did. It's made this just a little more intimate. But Enrico won't have any pictures of me mesmerizing you with my long legs and grey skin flecked with silver glitter and jewelry. So just a little something to hold the image tight."

"I would have been happy if you hadn't done this," he said.

"And I love you most for that," she replied. "But I'm happier that I did do it. And now, you can say your dancer gave you a very passionate make out session for your stag."

And she did just that for the next few moments. Then it was over. She got up, and Jack found he could stand up. She took a paper bag from Cocoa and slowly and seductively walked away from him and went into the woman's rest room. Cocoa shook her head.

"Crazy," she said. "Just frabbin crazy. There's something going on here, there's gotta be. It just makes no sense other wise." She walked away.

Gabrielle fluttered up as Enrico came back in. He was followed by Tiber and Rochelle who was under his arm. Trey came last.

"Well how was your send off?" asked Trey.

"My imagination is utterly running out of control," sighed Jack. "I need a drink to settle down."

Diamond came back out of the restroom. She was in a ruffled blouse, blue jeans, and her calf boots. She had washed off all the stage makeup and was once again looking like her usual morning self.

"Gonna behave now?" joked Tiber.

"In public yes," replied Diamond. "My last dance just finished. Privately? Oh that's another matter entirely."

She gave Jack another kiss.

"Have a fun party darling." And she and the rest of the girls departed. Rochelle after she had given Tiber her own little make out session of kisses.

Jack's pool game was totally off for the rest of the party. When he got home, he noticed that Diamond's bedroom door was open. He peaked in. She wasn't there. But there was a note on the bed.

 _"To my favorite customer,_

 _Staying the night at Rochelle's. Just in case you really had to have me. I wouldn't be able to say no you know. Never really have been able to say no to you. You've been such a sweetie about it I'd hate to spoil it just when it's about to be the most romantic it could be._

 _From your favorite dancer."_

He sighed and had to admit she was being rather smart again.

He walked into his room.

Yep, she definitely was being smart.

That selfie she had taken was framed and mounted over his bed. And it was her face, grey neck and shoulders while kissing him in her most passionate fashion. And he could perfectly imagine what was below that frame. All the way down.

He had a hard time settling down that night. He needed a few more drinks.


	19. Chapter 19 - Fluttering Hearts and Vows

**Fluttering Hearts and Vows**

"Huu huu huu huu huu huu," gasped Ayumi.

"There there now lassie," soothed Poochie. "It's going to be alright, just take a deep breath."

"Huu huu huu huu so big huu huu huu huu," she continued.

"Now be cool, think calm thoughts it will be all there for you soon."

"Huu they'll huu huu say their vows huu huu huu, kiss huu huu huu and then huu huu huu come over here and huu huu huu cut . . . it . . . huu huu huu and there will be so many pieces . . . THUNK!"

"Medic? Ayumi's down!" cried Poochie.

Sanguine sighed and picked her up. "I'll get her in the shade," she offered.

"Oh good," said Poochie.

Sanguine carried Ayumi into the spacious houseboat and put Ayumi on the couch while she recovered from her beatific vision of the wedding cake. Given the party was just starting and everyone was saving their chairs, nibbling on finger foods, grabbing drinks and scurrying around no one saw her nibble on Ayumi's neck and get a zing of fairy plasma which, as everyone knows, really gives vampires that extra special tingle.

The wedding cake was rather large. Three layers tall, it was decorated in subtle motifs which represented Diamond's and Jack's lives. There were little dots and squiggles which represented periods and commas while folded draped icing and sparkles suggested curtains and glitter. One layer was a subtle chocolate, the sort which reminded you of a chocolate milkshake. Another hinted of peanut butter. And the third was just ordinary white.

Diamond however was in a tizzy. She was struggling to get hot dogs grilled and she was in her wedding dress. It was a most enchanting formal as well. Shimmering gauze over most of it leaving a hint of grey in the arms, shoulders, and back while the rest was white glittering lace. It gave her an almost magical appearance. Her hair was drawn back into a pony tail, save for two bangs which hung down in front. Her pointed ears were in full view and the moment Jack had seen her in the outfit, he had taken her into his arms, dipped her, given her a kiss, and then pulled her back up and gently ran his fingers over the points of her ears. She had shivered just a little and told him to behave himself . . . until after the party.

Smoke was billowing out of the grill.

"Oh oh oh!" she whimpered. "The hot dogs are ruined!"

"Now now," soothed Gabrielle. "There's never been a wedding when something didn't go wrong."

"But . . ." began Diamond.

Gabrielle just hugged her. "It's okay darling." She leaned back. "Oh my look at my dearest best friend . . . she's a bride . . . I can't believe it." She started to sniffle.

"Cut it out, Gabbi!" began Diamond. She giggled "You're embarrassing me!" as Gabrielle's tears began to dribble down her face on her makeup. "Stop it you silly fairy! I'm going to be alright I . . ." and then she remembered she had said those very words just before she had gazed upon Jack's face the very first time they had met. And it had been Gabrielle who had set it up so she would have that chance. If it hadn't been for Gabrielle's affection for her . . .

"Oh oh oh, Gabbi, it's been such a . . ." and she was in tears.

"Happy faces for the camera pretty ladies!" exclaimed Enrico as he captured two women with tear streaked cheeks in a set of rapidly snapping images. "Whoa girls, why you so sad."

"We're happy!" whimpered Gabrielle, who then turned and hugged Diamond and sobbed a little more.

"So happy!" blubbered Diamond hanging on to the girl who had made all this possible for her while her chin commenced to quiver.

"This is like . . . making no sense," groaned Enrico while Diamond and Gabrielle just hung on to each other and had that universal feminine experience of the happy cry.

As for the hot dogs, they continued to crisp and burn. Some one eventually got them off the grill, but judiciously tossed them overboard. If the fish, lobsters, or clams found them delicious, they never reported upon it.

Jack was standing in front of the mirror while Trey was brushing him off with a whisk broom. He was in a blue double breasted suit.

"I feel so duded up," he laughed.

"Which is crazy given we really make you up before you give your broadcasts each night," agreed Trey.

"Yeah, what a switch. Before we married, Diamond was always under lights and make up and now that we're getting married, I'm always in lights and makeup."

"But you don't have people looking straight at you when it happens," suggested Trey.

"Doesn't make me feel any less nervous when that camera lights up," sighed Jack.

"Stage fright means you have talent," said Trey. "Universal rule."

"No wonder she was so good," sighed Jack. "She told me her palms were always sweating before she stepped out."

"Dancer with talent," laughed Trey. "Oxymoron from what I've heard Rosa say. I'd say you probably snagged her just before she was lost forever."

"How do you mean?" asked Jack.

"The producer really wanted her for that table dance scene. When she didn't show up for the preliminary interviews he tracked her down and really put the screws on her to accept and was vocally upset when she said no. Probably because she had talent to not just dance on that table, but probably get more seriously into the movies. If that had happened, she would have left the islands and you would be stuck with Ariel."

Jack sighed. "Things have a way of working out you know. Like things are put together as if they've been planned for a very long time."

Trey sighed. "It's going to still be a mess on occasion. They're forgetting that she was a dancer. But sooner or later someone will rediscover her. And you'll be looking at her all over the web again."

"I can deal with that," sighed Jack. "The pictures have never done her justice. It's just an image on paper. Only one who ever really came close to capturing her was Enrico."

"Yeah," agreed Trey. "He's always been able to do that with people. He's not afraid to really run a dozen shots just as they are turning their head to catch that one instant where their personality really stands out."

Jack nodded. "He gave me his 'wedding night album' this morning. And I will confess I looked through it. I know he did a great job because every single photo of her, in, or partially, or out of costume, you always find your eyes drifting to the face."

"He has that touch," agreed Trey. He brushed a single hair off of Jack's shoulder. "He walks into that club and all he sees are photo opts. He's a genuine aesthete, never thinks of the girls as objects or in a sexual manner. He tips but that's just because he knows they're working their behinds off up there, not to mention other things. It's all about capturing something beautiful. He treats little old ladies the same way. I've seen him. And trees. He talks to trees like they'd actually do something for his camera."

"I don't know why you bother, Trey," chuckled Jack as Trey brushed off yet another speck of dust. "The moment I step out into the outdoors, all sorts of new dust and lint are going race for this suit."

"But the cleaner you start out there, the longer before it starts to be noticed," countered Trey. "Okay star, you're ready to put on the show."

"No, terrified. But I'm still going through it. She's for me, and it's really time we finished this process."

The two of them walked out of the master bedroom and out into the back deck. Jack walked up to the wedding arch and waited for Diamond to come up. She saw him, and then hesitantly took a step forward. It was as if she was almost afraid she would wake up in a rabbit hole the next step she took. But as she walked forward, each step became swifter and she then glided up to him under the arch. Everyone gathered and sat down.

They looked at each other as Enrico's camera started working.

"You're looking beautiful," suggested Jack.

"You're looking like my Prince," answered Diamond.

He stepped back and took her hands.

"I take you Diamond Gemstone, to be my wife, to have and to hold, until death comes to take me."

"I take you Jack Fearthegn, to be my husband, to have and to hold, until death comes to take me."

He reached into his pocket and took out a thin gold ring.

"And with this ring, I pledge my faith, and bind myself to you in heart chains everlasting." he slipped the ring upon her finger.

She took out a thicker band and looked up to him.

"And with this ring, I pledge my faith, and bind myself to you in heart chains everlasting." And she slipped the ring upon his finger.

They paused and looked at each other while Gabrielle began to blubber again.

"It's like they really love each other," grumbled Cocoa. "Like all those cheesy movies. This is making my head hurt."

Crystal leaned against Trey and squeezed his hand.

"I can't wait, can you?" she whispered.

Trey's impending marriage nearly overwhelmed him, but he managed to smile back at Crystal and squeeze her hand.

"You do know my ring size right?" suggested Mabel to Tiberius.

"Yeah I do," whispered Tiberius back. "You be patient girl. There is a price to pay when you pick a man studying to be a teacher before you're in college."

"Diamond," whispered Jack.

"Jack," whispered Diamond.

"Fearthegn," they whispered together.

And they kissed as little hearts fluttered from the arch and people began to clap.

"It's happened," she thought.

She wanted to shout and dance and throw her hands up in the air. She had been so terrified that morning. She had gotten up and had a little yogurt and coffee and had sat at the table as doubts began to gnaw upon her. She had danced for Jack. She had pulled out every little sexy move and discard she could work into the costume. She had focused upon timing so that she would maintain that balance between removing too quickly or too slowly, and all the while she had brushed up against him from the sides and run her fingers over him from his chest to his face. She had nibbled on his ears and whispered all the little sexy suggestions. And she had made sure he saw every little unfastening, untying, every discard and toss. She had embraced him pixeled and kissed him. And she had more than just pushed it. Would he think she was just cheap? Would some paparazzi photo show up with her in his lap? She had spent a full hour in increasingly agonizing terror before the phone had rung and she had heard Jack's voice over the phone.

"It won't be long now," he had said. "So I wanted to let you know that I love you."

"I . . . I love you to," she had said as she felt tears well up. "SO MUCH!"

He had hung up and she had run out into Mabel's back yard and shouted into the sky. "You hear that world? He LOVES me!" And then she had danced little circles in the freshly green spring grass.

Mabel and Crystal had looked out of their bedroom window as they were getting up and getting dressed for the day and wedding party.

"She's kind of weird this morning," observed Crystal. "I hope I don't get that silly on my wedding day."

"I'm just hoping I get a wedding day," sighed Mabel. "I'm so jealous of you Crystal."

Diamond looked into Jack's eyes under the arch as the hearts drifted away.

"My hero," she whispered.

"My little elven misty faced starlight hair princess," he whispered back. He looked past her and for a brief instant, it was as if the houseboat faded away and all he saw was a battle plain filled the corpses of dead and rotting dragons. He knew he had seen it through. There would be no more dragons to slay. She was only an ordinary housewife now. She would have her quirks. She would still scare easily. She would still just up and take over. She still would struggle with math. But she was just a young woman, married to her husband, and ready to start their family with him.

They stayed under the arch for another second so Enrico could take a few more shots and then they walked out of it husband and wife. There were hugs, tears, back slaps, and then it was over to the cake.

"Is Ayumi conscious yet?" asked Poochie.

"I'll check," cried Sapphire.

Together with Gabrielle, Sapphire led a shivering Ayumi to the rest of the group so she could see Jack and Diamond cut the wedding cake.

Once Ayumi got her first piece, she settled down. Relatively speaking that is.

Diamond rolled out a keg then. There was no such thing as a party Diamond threw that didn't have a keg. At least yet, and there were a few keg stands with her in her wedding dress. Jack held her for as long as he could and then let her down and she didn't push it. Nor did she get herself that juiced.

"I wanna remember the wedding night and wake up tomorrow without a headache," she explained.

Cocoa kept looking at Enrico, and the hot tub, but either Enrico was too dim to take the hint, or knew that it was a risky option at best given the local and furthermore? he had pictures to take.

Then once everyone had drunk a little bubbly and eaten a slice of cake, except Ayumi who was still eating slices of cake, Sapphire pulled out her guitar and speaker and began to serenade the guests for a little quiet dancing. Jack and Diamond danced with all their friends. She let Trey swing her around the floor a couple of times as well as Enrico and Tiber. Tammy got to dance with Jack, as did Mabel, Crystal, Cocoa, who kept looking at him with a certain level of disbelief in her face, and then finally Gabrielle.

"I'm really glad you didn't strip last night," he sighed as he twirled around the floor with Gabrielle.

"Well I'm glad you're glad," she said. "But I would have been happy to if I had known it would have pleased you. I even offered Diamond a duet with matching costumes when she began her little plotting. But she said you would not have liked it, so . . ." Gabrielle sighed for a moment. "I kept my hands off my snaps."

"I think you're the only dancer I know who actually enjoys being one for the sake of being one," observed Jack. "I'd say Cocoa seems to view it as merely a means to an end."

"Well there are all types of people you know," replied Gabrielle. "I'm just one of the more quirky ones. But I will confess. If I had ended up in some of the more sleazy dives in say, Twin Brooks? I might have had second thoughts about my career choice. I was lucky that I started in The Scuzz, but then again I was lucky I was a fairy. Not many of us do dance you know. Bounder always likes the more exotic. He really begged Diamond to stay on. She told him no at least a dozen times. He ended up saying some pretty nasty things to her and she called him out on it."

"Well I'm glad she's no longer in that," sighed Jack. "Though I will confess she really was an incredible performer last night."

"I think Tiber really summed it up when he said it was that she loved you. I could see that from the bar. Judy and I both agreed that it was the best we'd ever seen from Diamond. And we could tell you were totally blown away by it. Sort of glad I wasn't with her dangling my sarong. I think it really would have destroyed the atmosphere. Just the same, if you ever are feeling a little blue and Diamond is off for the weekend somewhere, call me and I'll put a little color into your cheeks."

Jack felt his face flush.

"See?" giggled Gabrielle. "I'm doing it already. Tee hee!"

"Silly little dancer fairy," groaned Jack.

"I'm going to miss her, you know," continued Gabrielle. It was clear she wasn't ready to leave him just yet. There seemed to be things she wanted to let him know about. "I always felt a kinship with her even though she never really liked the job, thinking it was all she was ever good for. I knew better. We all knew better. She was just too good at it. She was so quiet and subdued, I don't know how many times I just fluttered over there to hug her and let her know she was worth a little love and affection. And I'm going to miss those little tender moments with her. But Jack . . . oh, to see her this happy. I can let her go now. I can come over and see her still, but it won't be the same. But . . . you know? The change started that first night she came into the dressing room after I led you on that little scavenger hunt for her. I knew right then, you and she belonged together. And I knew Ariel was up to no good. The moment she lied to Diamond about what she was going to do with that little pink bikini telling her it was for Daniel and not you? I knew she was doing something bad. But . . . what was I going to do? Well I'm sure you figured it out."

"Really? You deliberately led me to Diamond because Ariel had borrowed that little pink swimsuit from you and lied to her about it?"

"I most certainly did. And while Diamond won't ever believe it, between you and me? I'm almost certain that Ariel hired O'Doole to hack into Enrico's computer and have him leave that folder on your desk."

"But if she hadn't?" asked Jack. "What would have happened when I found out?"

"I have no idea," admitted Gabrielle. "It was clear that the lies had a price to be paid. And it was very foolish of Diamond to start off the relationship that way. But Jack? I sometimes think we're allowed to do stupid things because if we were not allowed to do them, something much better wouldn't happen."

"We'll never know will we?"

"Not in this life," mused Gabrielle. "Who knows what the ghosts know? They seem rather fond of dropping by on occasion but they don't spend all their time here do they?"

"You ever wonder what you'll do when you're a ghost?"

"Depends on what I look like sweetie. But if word ever gets out of a pixeled fairy ghost haunting the Skuzz, you can be sure it will be me."

"You just don't quit do you?"

"Not yet, Jack."

He and she parted and Diamond came over.

"And now for a special song for the bride and groom," suggested Sapphire. She began to sing There For You a cappella.

Diamond began to gently dance with Jack. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back.

"Di? Why do you get into this song so much?"

"It was the song you danced me to when you took me back," she whispered. "It was the song that told me my story and yours. I would look into the dressing mirror at the Scuzz and never knew you were behind it, waiting for me. Waiting for me to pull me through."

She leaned her head upon his shoulder.

"I love you my darling . . . forever . . . so much . . ."

Then she looked up.

"I've never seen your eyes like that before," observed Jack.

"They are known as bedroom eyes," she sighed. "Let's encourage the party to end."

"I do believe it's getting late," suggested Sapphire when she finished the song. Either she had seen Diamond's gaze upon Jack and picked up the hint, or she had, like Trey, read the weather report and knew a snow storm was coming in off the ocean. The weather was getting decidedly cooler.

Jack and Diamond said goodbye to everyone. Ayumi was thrilled to get a tupperware container of cake and then they were all by themselves on the boat.

"Get ready for bed," said Diamond in a fashion which could be interpreted either as a simple suggestion or order. Jack wasn't sure which. She picked up what was left of the wedding cake to take it into the fridge and he retired to the bedroom and changed into his typical pajamas. He looked at the new double bed. Ironically he too found that while he was looking forward to their final joining, he was thinking more of just feeling her snuggled up next to him. Knowing she was right there in the bed next to him.

He lay down. Diamond came in, reached into the cupboard, pulled out a white nightgown, and walked into the bathroom.

He waited. And waited . . . and waited some more. Just what was she doing that was taking so long?

She was looking at herself in the nightgown and having a panic attack. Tonight he would see her just as an ordinary woman. There would be no make up, no lights, no tricks to make her body more desired. She was going to be just like a trillion other brides tonight. She was terrified he wouldn't like her.

She took a couple of deep breaths. And decided . . . she would turn off the lights and _then_ remove the nightgown. That would hide all the defects she was sure he would see. She walked into the bedroom, and he was leaning back with his hands behind his back, his eyes closed. He hadn't fallen asleep had he? That would have been the most unimaginable insult she could envision.

"Darling?" she asked.

He opened his eyes. He noted she exhaled and relaxed. Then he noted she kind of almost dashed to the bed. He wasn't sure if she was have a hard time containing her excitement or was trying to get something over with.

She wasn't sure either. She sat upon the bed, her legs folded under her to the side. She turned off the light.

"Are you ready for me?" she asked.

"Well," he admitted. "I am a little nervous. I mean, I hardly have any experience in these things. Ariel was so brief an affair."

She giggled and snuggled up next to him and kissed him. "Don't worry darling," she said. "I'll handle the details. I'm a professional."

"Misty Starlight? Do you have any idea what you just suggested about yourself in your answer?"

"Shut up and kiss me," she snuggled closer and kissed him for a moment. Then she felt her heart start to beat.

Then she sat back up and removed her nightgown.

"I . . . I hope I please you," she said, her voice trembling a little in the darkness.

"Beloved?" He asked her. "What have I always gazed upon all these months?"

"My face."

"And what was I always looking into last night when you danced for me."

"My . . . eyes."

"So what do you think I'm looking at now?"

"Oh . . . darling!"

She snuggled back up to him and pressed herself against him. She left no air between any part of herself and him. Her kissing was passionate and he began to gently caress her back. His fingers slid down her skin to the dimples in her lower back and he gently circled around and within them.

And she began to tremble. Her whole body was trembling and her heart was pounding and her breath was coming faster and faster.

"I've . . . I've never felt like this!" her mind raced. "This . . . what is this? Is this really what true love feels like? Have I missed out on so much until now? Why isn't he . . . what is he . . . why is he still just . . . lightly caressing me? He's not touching anything that . . . "

And then it dawned on her. He was still courting her. It was the final step. He was waiting for her final invitation. And her whole body was aching for their final joining. She couldn't just say it. She wanted it to be the most beautiful invitation she could express.

And then it came to her. The line he and she had come up with for the book. When Goudie carried S'nae to their nuptial bed. What S'nae had said. It was, in her mind, the most beautiful description of what they were about to do she had ever heard.

"Jack," she whispered trembling. "Make love with me."

* * *

The snow was falling outside. It was muffling the ringing of the buoys in the straights. It silenced the early morning traffic, the motor sounds of the taxi boats. All that could be heard in the houseboat was the gentle gurgling of the waves slapping the sides of the hull. A couple of mermaids, on their way to an early morning breakfast of kelp and fish swam by the boat. The sky was overcast hiding any hint of the dawn in the east.

Diamond was awake. Jack was snuggled up next to her with his left arm around her his hand resting over her heart. She was happy. She was warm. And she had made love with the most wonderful man in the world before falling asleep in his arms. It was quiet. She wondered if she had conceived. But if not, there would be plenty of opportunities. Her whole life was ahead of her. She closed her eyes, and tried to imagine her future life, her future children.

"Mommy? Can you tell me a story?" said the little grey elven girl in her imagination. She was so like her mother without an overbite and with her father's bright blue eyes and sense of humor.

"Yes Amethyst," she said. "Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess trapped in a high tower surrounded by dragons. And she was so lonely and unhappy. And everyone wanted to make her their slave. No one loved her at all. But one day, as she was looking out from the top of the tower, she spied far away, a handsome prince riding by. And he saw her, and knew she was beautiful. But he had great and mighty deeds to do and he had to ride on.

And she was very sad.

But then a good fairy took pity on the princess and led the prince back to her, promising him a treasure without worth to goad him on. And when he reached the tower the princess waved to him from the top of the tower and he remembered that she was so beautiful he fell in love with her immediately. But the dragons roared and hissed and she was afraid he'd never get to her. But he drew his sword, cried his battle cry, and fought the dragons one by one until all that was left was the great wooden door of the tower.

He kicked it down with a single stroke and ran up the stairs. When he saw her he fell to his feet and told her he wanted to marry her. And she, her heart beating so fully, said yes.

And so he picked her up and carried her out of that tower and they rode off to his castle, got married, and lived happily ever after."

"Mommy? Did they have any children?"

"Yes precious. They had a little girl. Just . . . like . . . you!"

She held Jack's hand, and gently kissed it. Then she clasped his hand with her hand, so that the two wedding rings were also touching. And she closed her eyes and fell back asleep.

And overhead, the night rushed on to the new dawn.

 **The End**


	20. Chapter 20 - Epilogue

**Epilogue**

The great English film director Alfred Hitchcock said that drama was merely life with all the dull bits cut out. And in the case of Diamond and Jack, this very much was the case. Their married life was rather quiet and uneventful after the roller coaster of their romance.

And for this reason, I'm going to simply sum up the salient points of the events of their lives based upon what I've seen as time has gone on.

Trey and Crystal married three days after Jack and Diamond and they made their home together. Eventually Trey took over the entire News Service of the Islands and before Jack retired, Trey was his boss. But the two remained fast friends. I fear I paid little attention to Trey and Crystal's family. I know they had kids but I don't recall names and numbers.

Tiber and Mabel eventually got married as well. But it took a bit longer. Mabel had some nice breaks before hand however. With Crystal marrying Trey, her parents moved to the Islands and into Mabel's house. Mabel was taken under their arm and she realized she could retire early. She had more than enough money to finance her college degree for her Uncle and Aunt had taken financial responsibility for home maintenance. Her last dance was a reimagining of her first dance, the 36 balloons, but this time she did it right. It was quite the sensation and she made sure Enrico was there to video the entire thing so she could send it to Tiberius.

But likewise she made another decision as well. She had talked to Diamond about what her wedding night had been like and she had talked to Crystal as well. While Crystal was happy she was married to Trey, it was patently obvious that Crystal had not had as intense an experience that Diamond had, and Mabel concluded it had a lot to do with the fact that Diamond had waited. After all, Diamond had been in a few beds prior to Jack and yet it was very much like a first time for her. Mabel decided to wait. Tiberius appreciated that. As it turned out, he decided to finish with his college work. He realized he really wanted to marry Mabel and he was more than qualified to teach in the Islands. So when it became clear he could get a job at the High School, he wrapped up his last degree, came to the Islands, and then walked into Mabel's home room and proposed to her. She was more than a little thrilled. They had three or four children. I can't recall at this juncture.

One other irony. The night after she retired from the Scuzz, the police raided the place on rumors of underaged dancers and they had a new laser scanner which would have revealed Rochelle's forged ID. Rosa smirked as the police found all 9 of the dancers to have fully authentic ID's. The tenth girl would be hired two nights later, and she too was of legal age.

Gabrielle continued to dance for a while but eventually she realized she was rapidly approaching full adulthood and that always took the edge off a dancer's charm. She moved her fairy castle to the Arboretum Park that Jack and Diamond had built by the library and remained there for the rest of her life as the grounds keeper. She never married, but she found she could make children smile as much as 'the boys' and with less 'exposure' and more variation. She ended up a happy old woman with lots of kids always playing about her in the park on nice days.

Cocoa likewise eventually retired but wanted to stay on the Islands and so got a job in the Alchemy Consignment Store. She and Diamond still chatted there since Diamond herself got more and more into alchemy as she grew closer to adulthood. Eventually Cocoa got her 25 lovers in 25 different settings and then asked herself what she was going to do with the rest of her life. She realized it was kind of dull. Enrico however was always taking pictures of her and she began to wonder if it might be nice to just stick with a single guy so she wouldn't be 'so bored'. Turned out Enrico always had been carrying a torch for her but had concluded she would never settle down. So he had settled for taking her picture all the time. She asked him out, he agreed, she tried to get him into bed, he informed her that she'd have to marry him first. He wanted to make sure she was going to stick around before he gave her that level of commitment. That freaked her out for a few days. But then she cracked and gave in. They got married, and then two weeks later, she was discovering that it got better the more you did it with a single person. They had a few children, and she settled into a happy domesticity.

When horse breeding, rearing, and stables came to the Islands, Bounder got into betting on the ponies and got himself so deep in debt he began to have to sell off shares of the club to keep himself afloat. Rosa however had prepared for this. Being a very long lived vampire she had plenty of money socked away, she had a full grasp of Bounder's personality, and it was she who purchased all the shares. Eventually, she ended up the full owner of the Scuzz and Bounder found himself unemployed. He tried to become a loan shark but ended up being eaten by them when the mob got tired of his antics and he tried to escape in a rather leaky boat.

Diamond conceived three days after Trey and Crystal got married.

She informed Jack who said. "So soon? How did this happen?"

She replied, "You're kidding, right?"

Jack wanted a boy, Diamond wanted a girl, so she went to the library to research if she could influence the birth of a girl. The trick was eating watermelon. So there she was, scarfing down watermelon every time Jack's back was turned for the full pregnancy and sure enough, she had a baby girl. It was tradition in Jack's family to name the girls after liquors and he wanted to name her Amaretto. Diamond informed him that Dark Elven girls were always named after gems and as their daughter had white hair, grey skin, and was clearly going to be a witch, they named her Amethyst.

The crib was put into the master bedroom per Jack's instructions and he also moved his desk into the room so he might be accessible while writing. He retired from the News and Diamond panicked thinking they were going to be poor. Jack told her that they had over 100,000 in the bank.

"How did that happen?" exclaimed Diamond.

"You're kidding right?" asked Jack, wanting to rub in a prior comeback.

"Jack, you know I'm not good at math."

From that point on, Jack was a fully at home author. Ironically he never got around to making it formal at the Courthouse. He just kept writing and getting his books published.

Then Diamond conceived again. Amethyst was still a toddler and they had a baby boy. Diamond didn't apparently eat enough watermelon. They named him Amander and he was very much like his father. The only thing he seemed to have inherited from his mother was a few of her facial features.

That led to a period of time which Jack described as the days when they were awoken by the morning songs of their children singing of hunger and dirty diapers.

There was one crises during this time. They had a party the night before Amethyst was to grow into a child. Ariel had been coming to their parties on and off and Diamond had been going to hers. But this night she decided to prove to them that Jack still had a thing for her and seriously hit on him with all her irresistible talents. Jack was distracted by many things and didn't see it coming, and did not immediately rebuff it, and failed to do so just as Diamond walked into the room. She cried as if she had been stabbed in the heart. He felt like a total heel and spent the next morning begging, pleading, and explaining. She eventually looked into his eyes and realized he was telling the truth and had no interest in Ariel.

She forgave him, they reconciled, and then she cast a love charm on him to be sure. And he took her into his arms and kissed her so passionately that she informed him that he needed to take her to bed and make love with her until her eyes crossed. It was at this point that Amethyst walked into the bedroom and reminded them that she was supposed to get a birthday party that day.

She was put out of the bedroom for a period of time and she sat whining that she wasn't getting her birthday party.

She got it later that afternoon.

But Ariel was never invited to another party by the Fearthegns.

Amander grew up into a child and then Jack and Diamond secured a long term babysitter and went back to college to get their degrees in communications. They were there for a week, graduated, and Diamond and Jack both ended up with a 3.25 GPA. Jack thought Diamond would have concluded that she was smarter than she realized. But it turned out she concluded that the university was stupider than she had imagined.

Then matters settled into happy domesticity for a while. Diamond got into gardening, and they moved out of the houseboat into a very nice estate on their own private island. Both Amander and Amethyst had their own private bathrooms and bedrooms up stairs with a project room between the two wings of the house where a dance floor, dance bar, mirrors, Jack's desk for writing, and Diamonds alchemy table were set up. She would send potions to her friends, brewed from the ingredients she grew in her garden. The house was huge, and there was a pool with waterfall, underwater bar, and a hot tub in the back. They had several parties there as well which were quite the talk of the Islands.

Time went on and Jack grew into full adulthood. But as Diamond began to approach adulthood, she had another panic attack and concluded that Jack would not love her if she got any older. She studied alchemy with a passion and then worked out a youth potion.

However, being as she was bad at math, she got the mixture just a wee bit too strong.

Jack was busy on a new novel, a murder mystery set in the Islands when he heard a gentle whispering voice say, "Jack do you promise you'll love me always what ever?"

Jack looked around and saw a very young, petite, and horribly cute teen age Diamond.

"Yes," he said. Then he lost it as she looked so cute and forlorn and worried. She was not particularly amused but he pointed out that she had no one to blame but herself and she should have known he had loved her this long, where had she gotten the idea he was not going to love her?

"There comes a point when you have to figure out that I'm going to be here for you," he observed.

Amethyst and Amander however were both a little freaked out that their mother was now going to High School with them, on the cheer leading squad, and proving to be very popular.

Then she got pregnant again and that was when Barnabas was born.

It was Barnabas's need for a baby sitter that led to a very nice relationship with Misty a young fairy whom Amander fell in love with and eventually married. They had one child, Cedric, when I last checked.

Amethyst on the other hand, was still single when I last checked but she was a very popular singer at a local venue which was owned by the Jesters. They remained an all girl band, but were now club owners themselves. It was easier getting gigs when you were the owner of the stage. Amethyst, having spend much time as Daddy's girl, gave herself the stage name of Amaretto Brandywine. She ended up doing some touring, but it proved difficult for her to get off the islands normally.

Barnabas eventually grew up and married a mermaid named Guppy. They had no children when I last checked.

Amander was an inventor and Misty a gardener so they kept the family estate hopping with the sounds of strange machines and aromatic scents from the flowers. Barnabas became a world traveler and explored all the tombs he could. It was clear where he got his adventurous spirit from.

Jack grew into an Elder and Diamond, now once again a Young Adult, did everything she could to make him happy and comfortable. But she also pleaded with him at times to take a youth potion. She knew he was in his last phase of life and became increasingly frightened of life without him. He refused. He was a mortal, and he had lived a mortal, and he did not fear death for it was just the gateway to a new life.

He died quietly and peacefully, but Diamond was devastated and pleaded with death to not take him. Death simply ignored her for Jack's time had come.

And then she was alone. His urn was put in the family crypt in the basement. Of course Amander and Misty lived in the house with her, but she remained grief stricken and wept routinely. She was quiet, subdued, and did little outside of just living from day to day.

Gabrielle would have known what had happened, but she had died herself by that time. And no, there was no cute little pixeled pixie haunting the Skuzz. She was happily somewhere else when she didn't pop by the arboretum to frighten off vandals late at night.

After a week, Diamond secured for herself a sailboat and left the estate. She was going to sail to where the bad things couldn't find her. Amethyst tried to talk her out of it but she simply kissed her daughter good bye and left.

Two days later, her body washed up on the shores of one of the resorts.

Barnabas then had a long talk with Amander. And they set out to build a time machine. After three days Amander had perfected it and Barnabas began to experiment with it. He reasoned that if he could go back in time to trace his mother's movements, he could prevent her untimely death. It was always the sort of thing Barnabas would do.

And so after a week of time travel experiments, Barnabas set out. For half the day the rest of the family waited on pins and needles. And then Barnabas came back and shook his head. Mother's death had been the best thing to happen to her.

They wanted to know how he could have come to such a conclusion.

And he explained it. He had tracked her down and was following her in the sailboat when the Kraken had come up and pulled down the boat. She had struggled but had been pulled under. Then, out of the sun, a ghost waving a sword had ridden in on a spectral horse and dived into the water. He saw Diamond rising to the surface, and he thought that the ghost had saved her. But no, her body just bobbed in the waves. But her spirit rose up above the surface for it was held by the man on the horse.

Barnabas then recognized that it was their dad. Diamond, now a ghost, looked at Jack and her face lit up in such joy it nearly took Barnabas's breath away. She hugged and kissed him for a moment. Then they turned and waved to Barnabas, and then rode the horse together back into the sun.

"She's happy again," he said. "I can't take that from her."

They took her urn and Jack's urn and mixed the two remains together in a silver casket and that has remained to this day.

As for me? I've gone on to watch other Sims, but they never have intrigued me as much as Diamond and Jack. I will admit I kind of miss them on occasion.


	21. Chapter 21 - Author's Notes

**Author's Notes**

And we get to the last section. Where I share my secrets for where I got my ideas. If you've read anything else I've written, you know what to expect, and can happily skip this section if you're not here to get some ideas for your own work. But otherwise . . .

I am a collector of Sims games. I got everything for Sims, then Sims 2, and then Sims 3, and now Sims 4. But I seldom play Sims 4. Haven't gotten the 'knack' for it yet. May never in fact. Sims 3 is still simply too open ended and varied.

But shortly after I comprehended that my play style for Sims 2 would not work for Sims 3, I created for myself a sort of alternative persona, named Jack Fearthegn. He was going to be an author. He was given all the attributes that I thought an author would like. Bookworm, perfectionists, sense of humor, etc. And then I created a house full of young women to serve as a source for an LI. And Diamond was a random result of that little mix. She had lips which were too thin, and an overbite, but I kind of gave her an exotic touch, skin as dark as possible, white hair, and red eyes. I was trying to duplicate the fantasy drow. And I made her Charismatic, Flirty, Great Kisser, Hopeless Romantic, and a Party Animal.

Then when he got his little house in Pleasant View settled in, and said hi to the neighbor's welcome wagon, he walked over to that house, rang the door bell, walked in, started to talk to the girls to see which one would connect with him and shortly there after, Diamond was totally smitten by him, and the feeling was entirely mutual. And no matter how many times I played out that sequence, she and he always hit it off.

And in the dozen or so replays, that's always been the case. And so, she became his permanent LI.

So when I started this new Sims 3 game, I didn't even doubt she would be the one in the end. I was posting memories for all my other Sims 3 buddies. For the game has had a bit of a revival since computers keep getting more and more capable of handling the game with it's quirks and likewise, Nrass has a bunch of mods which fix even more of them. And most of us have some sort of sequential save as system so that if our game goes south, we can restart one or two or three sim days back and not lose much.

But I decided to mix things up a bit, and introduce her later in the game, and give Jack an affair prior, just to see what would happen. And so, in the words of Sims 3 buddies who were watching my posted memories, with their humorous dialogues and circumstances, the 'popcorn' began and I realized that Diamond needed a backstory.

It was at this point that I did something I had never done before. I looked up the english lyrics for There For You which Diamond and Jack always slow danced to when it came on the radio. And as I looked at those english lyrics I realized exactly what Diamond's backstory was. She was a stripper.

And I didn't just have a Sims 3 Game with memories being posted anymore, I had a fan fic screaming to be written.

And what was great about this backstory was that I could write about something I've always really wanted to write about and do so almost exclusively.

The Theater.

And you thought I was going to say hot and sexy exotic dancers didn't you? ; P

I spent a lot of my youth in the theater, I sang, acted, did stage magic, stand up comedy, wrote and directed my own shows. And so I while I would be talking about Diamond and her friends in the club, I wouldn't be exactly talking about great body attributes and sexual fantasies. I was going to be talking about staging, choreography, costuming, comic patter, in short, all the stuff that makes the theater fun.

You won't find a Scuzzbucket in the world today. Because I pulled up all my theatric memories and the history of theater from the past 100 years to slip into that club. In order for someone to have that elaborate a club, they would have to have links that go all the way back and your typical 'business man' who runs such a club is clueless.

I had to change a few terms. Rosa talks about poor man's theater. What she is really talking about is Burlesque, because that is what Burlesque was back at the dawn of the 20th century. A poor man could take his wife and kids to a cheap theater and see jugglers, comics, dancers, acrobats, magicians, animal acts, and all sorts of entertainment for an affordable price. Today it's something different. The so called revival is a shadow of the original.

Burlesque began to change when strip-tease was introduced. It wasn't an overnight event. The history points to it's origin with the only documented genuine wardrobe malfunction which happened to Hinda Wassu during an amateur hoochy coochy dance contest. That would take a bit history to explain so I won't. The owners of theaters became totally obsessed with this sexual fantasy because they had the money and power to make it seem real to them. But the common man could not take his kids any more, his wife could not compete with the staging so she didn't want him coming any more. They started going to movies, and when the movies pushed it in, they stayed home to watch TV, and when TV pushed it in, they threw their TV's away and turned to alternative media.

So while you'll find tons of so called histories which put the blame on Mayor Floria LaGuardia or Margie Hart, in the end, The Night They Raided Minsky's was simply the death knell of an entertainment medium which had already cut itself off from it's audience and was getting the beginning of it's comeuppance.

But for the purposes of a story, I can draw a line in the sand to where the transition has become complete to nothing but strippers, and still has all those theatric club FX. In short, Skuzzbuckets is an early 50's style burlesque which has not lost the staging but is modern in it's application.

And having set the stage as it were, I had the venue for Diamond and the theater. I could replay some of the old vaudeville skits, have the comic patter, talk about staging, effects, and while you see a little tease, you don't see much in the way of physical attributes, because I'm talking about people trying to make sense in a world which shouldn't be as off as it clearly is. The girls know something is wrong, but none of them can put their finger on it, and as Diamond begins to look at Jack's life and compares it with hers, she begins to make observations that lead her to a greater understanding as to what is really wrong with the picture.

And it's something that I feel strongly about given that our present culture is in a flaming free fall.

The story of an ordinary nebbish guy falling for the really hot and crazy girl is an old plot itself. It shows up in the movies on a regular basis. And in real life, guys who are not that physically attractive can frequently attract very good looking women simply because the guy is treating the girl better in a way none of the other guys are treating her. Women are driven more by vocals than visuals. Cyrano de Bergerac is the classic illustration of this. And Jack, like Cyrano, disqualifies himself on occasion. But the truth is, a guy who treats a woman like a human being who is important to him is going to start looking beautiful in her mind even if his nose is too big, his chest is too small, and his legs are a pasty white. What is different in this story line is that Diamond knows he's a 'cool' guy before he ever sets eyes upon her and she is looking for a way out.

But I couldn't have been able to talk about strippers if I hadn't had the chance to know one as a genuine friend. Her real name was Judy. She was bartending in the comedy club next door where I would hang out on her nights off. She makes a cameo in the story. I can sketch her face from memory and I do so. Don't ask me what her body looked like because I literally can't recall. Knee caps don't smile when you tell them a joke. Belly buttons don't wink at you when they are feeling flirty. The face is where nearly all our expressions are and when you get to know someone well, that's what you remember. Suffice to say however, she was Miss Nude for the state in that year and so you can be sure it was a knockout. On the stage that is. It really is illusion guys. There's no girl that looks like that the morning after in your bedroom under the dawn's early light. And she was my friend because I was 'safe'. I was, in her words, 'the only guy she trusted.'

And yes, she hinted she wanted to be more than friends, but I had to keep asking myself, 'what would mom and dad say?' You see by that point I knew that parents saw things I didn't and I sensed she would not be approved of even before they found out her career choices.

So we remained friends, and she introduced me to some of her dancer friends and we had a few laughs, a few drinks, and once in a great while I was in the back by the door so that the guy who wanted to give them a little 'medication' wouldn't pull any fast stuff on them. And you'd be surprised how many times that guy did try just that. Well probably not surprised at all. And stripper glitter? Some guys worry about their girl friends seeing stripper glitter. Well my problem was stripper tears. I had my shoulder cried on frequently. It was a good thing I didn't have a girl friend.

"Back story," said Jack to Tiber. He wasn't kidding either.

And for that reason, you read about quite a number of personalities among Diamond's friends because I had quite a number of personalities to draw from. There were tramps, and there were girls who were desperate. There were girls who thought they had no other options. And one of them really did enjoy performing. Most of these women came from messed up homes, or through bad decisions, cut themselves off from stable homes. One of the girl's had a father very much involved in the porn business and she just presumed being a stripper was a great option for her when she turned 18. She would come to me for advice on boyfriends "Why won't he call? I thought he liked me in bed!" That sort of thing. How do you explain it? There was the girl who was being beaten up by her boyfriend but she stuck with him because he was the father of their child and she felt he deserved some connection but hated her father because her father kept telling her the guy was no good and was still offering to protect her from him. Seriously screwed up chick here. And the girl who bit everyone's head off the moment they tried to say, ask directions to the bathroom? And of course the myriad nameless faceless girls who simply thought it was an easy way to make money. That meme you can see on google, the 'screw this I'll be a stripper' really does exist. Compared to them, Judy was a rock of stability and common sense. But her vanity was immense. There were two classes of people in her mind. Nobodies, and her friends.

So Jack is not being stupid when he avoids this. And Trey's psychological issues at the end of the story which come close to destroying his friendship with Jack are very real issues indeed.

So how do I get this desperate girl who's going to be a handful and this rather destined for success guy together in a deep and lasting love story?

I limit Jack's options. You don't have to be a stripper to be a woman who's trouble and Ariel has commitment issues. That was the whole point. Jack starts off with two choices, Cocoa and Ariel and Ariel is the most intelligent choice. Then Diamond comes into the picture just as Ariel is giving him yet more run arounds and because he does not know her profession, he falls for a girl who very much is attracted to him.

And so circumstances make Diamond the most intelligent choice for Jack, but it takes him time to work it out. And likewise, Diamond has to move in the right direction.

And then we get to the next theme of the story, that concept of destiny.

After all, the title of the story is Made For Each Other and it was true.

Now destiny has two views which people hold to. They accept either one or the other. The first view is the blind fate view. You are going to do this and there is nothing you can do about it. It's going to happen. In this point of view, Jack and Diamond are made for each other, they're going to fall in love, and stay in love, end of story.

There's just one problem with this. It only works with robots. If you can freely choose, then you can literally choose to reject the most wonderful thing in the world. You may have dozens of reasons why you don't pick the most wonderful thing in the world, but most of them involve denying to yourself that it is the most wonderful thing in the world you're rejecting.

However in the west, the Judeo-Christian view has always been expressed in the expression, "God writes straight with crooked lines." You are given the freedom to reject your destiny, but your destiny often takes into account several rejections which you will make that end up pointing out to you that your destiny really is the intelligent thing to begin with.

In other words, in the Christian perspective, the rejection of the destiny is taken into account in the fulfillment of it. And you are always free to reject it, but in the end, you will realize that you made a very big mistake which had permanent consequences.

Jack in the end, does not come to accept Diamond as his true soul mate based upon feelings, but upon experience which teaches him, in the very act of rejecting her initially, that she really is the smartest choice in spite of all the evidence which tells him otherwise. Because the two of them may be made for each other, but they really are not ready for each other. Both have got some issues which will need resolution. Diamond needs rescuing, but Jack needs to learn how to be a rescuer.

And so over the course of the story, Diamond in particular begins to sense that there is something to this pain and suffering that she's having to go through that is in some fashion making her love of Jack more permanent. While Jack suspects at the beginning that there's something going on behind the scenes which brings them together, it is Diamond who begins to suspect that the same forces are working to keep them together as well.

There was one other problem which I realized I was going to have to deal with. When you are writing about strippers, you are dealing with an atmosphere which is highly charged sexually. And the problem is avoiding pornography. Now male pornography and female pornography are somewhat different. As I pointed out earlier, men are triggered by vision which is why the vast majority of strippers are women. But women are triggered by hearing which is why the art of seduction for a man begins with words. Thus I had two things I needed to avoid. First avoid any overt visual description of strip-tease and in particular bodies. That was going to require some thought because if I'm going to talk about staging and choreography, I'm going to get visual. So, when I got into the profession itself, I began to find ways of not crossing certain lines. Many of the strip scenes leave the women still covered in some fashion before something else shifts the scene. We know Diamond wears some pretty skimpy items at times, but you never read about her taking them off in any particular detail. Likewise there are other tricks I did. She pantomimes one strip tease for Jack when she talks about an old vaudeville skit which is played with Ayumi and she's in blue jeans and sweater the whole time. Rochelle is stripping on stage but you only see the garments landing in a pile by the stairs. Gabrielle can't get her bra off in one sequence. And Jack is so mesmerized by Diamond's final 'public' performance that he can only really recall specific flashes of memory. In short, I describe things in such a fashion that you never actually see a full strip-tease in the story. The closest I get is with the male dancer at Diamond's hen party and what you get are sound effects and Crystal's high state of embarrassment as descriptors.

But likewise, I was equally circumspect with the love making sequences. You never see anyone actually 'do it'. You hear of them doing it, but I never describe it. The closest is Diamond and Jack's wedding night where she gets so charged up, but before Jack is really doing anything. But the moment she says Make love with me, we fade to black.

But I also owe a lot of these tricks again to the old vaudeville and theater. Mae West once said, "I believe in censorship, I've made a fortune off of it." Mel Brooks likewise observed that sexy stuff prior to the sixties was funnier precisely because you had to come up with ways to reference it so that the kids would not catch on. Thus you have word plays which pop up that, if you think about it, let you know some pretty randy stuff is going on at that moment.

But that is a form of humor known as bawdy, and it's quite capable of being funny. You see, inappropriate sexual behavior can be very funny because we're dealing with highly embarrassing situations. And comedy was, at the beginning very much connected to strip-tease. Gypsy Rose Lee, perhaps one of the most successful strippers, had a very comical patter as she performed. And it served her well because when she got 'too old to take her cloths off in public' she could still tell jokes and had twenty years experience of telling them for live audiences. Some of her lines are quite well known. "I'm descended from a very long line my mother listened to." And "I've got every thing I was born with, but it's a bit lower these days."

And so we have Rochelle's patter before her strip, we have Diamond's verbal flipping the bird to her audience when she announces her engagement, and there's of course Ayumi's "you must really love me!" exclamation. And it all comes to a head at Jack's stag when those three girls give him one joke after another while he's trying desperately to talk them out of it. But even there, the real joke is the misdirection they are all engaged in, keeping him occupied with them while Diamond slips in and gets behind the curtain, ready to give him the performance she has dreamed about giving him since the very first time she realized she was falling in love with him.

And that is perhaps one of the interesting components about strip-tease as a whole. There are very few women who do not at some point want to do something like that for the guy they are in love with because it does represent a very feminine expression of total giving. This is why the profession lends itself to such crazy stereotypes. And that gave me all the ammunition I needed to have that entire Jock conspiracy to get Diamond to strip for them which turns out over and over again to be on them as she plays them.

Diamond turned out to be a very complex character. Of course it helped that I've played with her as a concept since 09. But likewise the contrasts made her quite a challenge to deal with. Her belief in her mental inadequacies, coupled with her very astute and cunning grasp of male psychology. The courage she can exhibit at one point while falling to pieces in terror at another. The intense and expressive love she feels for Jack, contrasted with her anger at men in particular. And of course you have that vanity which paralyzes her when she's under Jack's loving gaze. And finally, her subdued qualities until Jack's love for her is experienced and then she seems to shine forth like a blazing fire.

And all through this, Jack just keeps reading books, tells her how pretty she is, and lets her know in all those little ways that he loves her.

There was one other problem which I had to address because again it's a typical fantasy but does not necessarily involve strippers. It's the idea that true love will make someone a better person.

It is a fantasy because while there is some truth to it, there is also a great deal of falsehood.

Diamond is shown to be sad and subdued. You can see a bit of her personality pop out when she's on stage in the very first chapter. She remembers Trey and Enrico by name, and gives them a little extra special treatment, but even then, it's for the tips they give her. You don't see her open up until she puts on a comedy routine for Jack as a way of playing for time and getting over her 'he's right in front of me!' jitters.

Jack's love for her has one crucial impact. It gives her a sense of self-worth and she begins to experience a certain level of happiness. But she's still vain, she's still a flirtatious manipulator, she still despises men in general, in short, she really hasn't changed so much as grown. Love can make you grow, but your faults won't go away.

In order for you to change as a result of love you have to be the one doing the loving. This is why Rosa tells Diamond to fix Jack a lunch. The more ways Diamond is able to give to Jack, the better a person she becomes. Likewise, the more times Jack undergoes pain, suffering, and frustration for Diamond, the more loving he becomes.

Love is a tool which can make You become a better person, but if you think your love will make them a better person, you're on your way to becoming the stereotypical abused spouse.

This is why, in ancient western civilization lore, you are told to not cast pearls before swine.

There are several scenes which I spent a great deal of time thinking about. Chapter 8 in particular was one of those I'm particularly pleased with. It starts out as a happy couple on a date, beginning to have the confidence of togetherness. You are seeing more and more of Diamond's humor and personality starting to pop out, all the nice qualities that have always been there but up to this point buried under a veil of tears. The approaching moment that you can see coming as Ariel walks out of that door and the rising tension in what looks to be an ordinary day of business and the bolt of lightning. Then the rapid descent into shock, horror, and grief. I've gotten some good emotional responses and that is what I was hoping for.

Then comes the reconciliation in Chapter Nine. The saddest sound I've ever heard is the sound of a woman desperately begging. The pathos in particular is what gets me. I kept at that in Diamond's soliloquy until I couldn't read it without tearing up. For me that really is the main climax, and it's horribly early in the story when it comes down to it. But it's the biggest hurdle that has to be overcome. Diamond has to stop lying and Jack has to be able to see that Diamond actually has good qualities which are being muted by her profession, but not yet destroyed by it. But for the rest of the story, you have that profession leaping up to threaten them again and again but each time Jack is more capable to handle it.

In the end, it hopefully turned out to be a story which evoked tears and laughter, as well as a desire to see those two, but particularly Diamond, have a happy ending.

Because at it's bottom, the story is really about hope springing forth out of the darkest situations. We never really are without it, and we never really are without another chance so long as our heart beats. And because of that, Diamond and Jack end up happily ever after, both in this life, and their next.

This from Jack


End file.
